Requiem For Dissent
by ombre.etoile.ritsu-san
Summary: He considered her to be his best friend, potentially something more. With the opportunity to be something more, change was to be expected. What Ichigo wouldn't know was just how much change would happen. AU
1. Chapter 1

_*Star-chan* Last time to upload, I promise! XD Ritsu-san is now on board with helping me work on this, so it's being reuploaded to this collab account! :) Sorry for the weird uploading, but thanks for putting up with me and constant reuploading!_

_**Permanent Disclaimer: Bleach and its characters belong to Kubo Tite and Shounen Jump. Our title, Requiem For Dissent, is owned by the music band Bad Religion. **_

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Big brown eyes peered through the small window of the 2-B classroom. Outside stood a small girl, standing around five feet tall, not counting the few inches given due to her standing on her toes. Her lips puckered into a small pout, a soft whine was heard in the practically empty hallway. Her bright auburn hair was tied into a ponytail, her long hair collectively draping over her right shoulder, exposing the opposite one.

The girl wore a cool grey sweater, one that matched her eyes almost perfectly. Unfortunately for her, her top was too big and seemed like falling off her shoulders, repeatedly exposing her pale skin and colorful bra strap. She tried her hardest to abide by the school dress code and pull it back where it was supposed to be, but her sweater had a mind of its own. At least she didn't look too awkward, considering the rest of the girls at her school did it in the same manner to look stylish.

A black and white pleated skirt hugged her hips, the hem reaching to a little above her mid-thigh. She wore thigh-length socks as well, ending just a bit higher than her knees with gray flats adorning her small feet.

"Mou, where is Ichigo-kun?" She whimpered softly, eyes searching the empty classroom. If he wasn't where he usually was, where could her best friend be?

A quiet huff escaped her pink lips as she crossed her arms under her generous chest, her brows furrowing in slight irritation. They had walked home together every day for a while now, regardless of his after-school 'sessions' due to his rebellious nature, and she wasn't going to break the habit now!

Turning her foot and stepping into a pivot, the small teen began to make her way around the school again in another attempt to find her 'Ichigo-kun'. Her only problem was as soon as she became fixated on leaving, she ran into a built form behind her, a small "Oof," pouring from her lips upon impact. Running into people wasn't part of her plan so fast apologies quickly came.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to!" She spoke rapidly, backing off and away from the boy behind her. But as she glanced up to meet this person's eyes, she saw her familiar chocolate brown irises she knew so well. That and the flaming orange hair certainly helped as well. "I-Ichigo-kun!" She cried.

"Just how often do you think I get detention?" Kurosaki Ichigo scoffed, bringing his large hand to his hair, fingers running through his unruly locks. Orihime's cheeks burned as she laughed, doing the same motion to herself with her own head. Although upon noticing she was copying him again, she quickly retreated her hand.

Bringing her eyes to his lean figure, she wondered why he looked so different today. His blazing hair seemed to fall over his eyes quite nicely, giving him an air of mystery. He wore a white button-up shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. On his left wrist was a red sweatband for mere accessory purposes. Gray slacks stretched down to his ankles with black shoes fitting onto his feet.

"Never!" she told him in a stern voice, pumping her fist into the air. "Ichigo-kun's a good person; he could never get in trouble!" She finished in that sugary-sweet voice of hers. Rolling his eyes, he threw her brown bag towards her ample form.

"If I never get in trouble, why is this the third time this week you've been waiting outside the detention hall?" He questioned her, watching her almost dropping her bag. She was never good at sports due to those butterfingers of hers, but she still tried her best anyways. Her persistence and determination was always something he liked about her.

He could tell he hit the nail right on the head when she turned a bright red and flailed her hands, her already long sleeves flying around with her.

"T-That's because I was just searching the entire school for you! It was like a mission, you see! I needed to find you!"

"Even though we're in the same class and we sit right next to each other."

"Yes!"

Her reasoning was baffling. Screwing his eyes shut, he groaned at her words. Positivity was always a good thing, but she came up with the most _bizarre_ excuses.

Ichigo dropped his bag at his side, pulling up his sleeves before moving closer to his friend. She turned quite a dark shade of red, spluttering words of confusion and embarrassment. "W-What are you doing, Ichigo-kun?" She flailed again, narrowly missing his face with her long sleeves. Grumbling, he promptly grabbed at the neck of her sweater, pulling it back over her shoulders. The accidental brush of his knuckles against her skin didn't go unnoticed and he was determined to keep the blush at bay. Soft skin or not, he wasn't a freaking pansy that would go super soft over his best friend.

"Keep your sweater on your shoulders, would you?" He asked harshly, his hands properly fixating her sweater back to school standards. "I don't want other guys to fucking look at you."

"E-Eh? Why's that?" She pouted, folding her small hands into fists as he fixed her top for her. "You know this is always too big on me..."

"I don't give a damn. Keep it on your shoulders." It wasn't that he was jealous of others, of course not. He just didn't want other guys looking at her so possessively as if she were an object, or the even worse rumor that went around, a freaking sex goddess. If they actually knew her, they'd see she acted like a child; something far from this heavenly being.

"Poo, you're so mean, Ichigo-kun," Orihime pouted, shrugging her shoulders while feeling the fabric against her shoulders again. He picked his bag up from the floor, dusting off bits of dirt off the bottom.

"I'm not mean, Orihime, I'm just telling the truth," he drawled out while taking a step towards the school's entrance doors. He could hear the _pitter patter_ of her own feet trying to catch up with his long strides. It wasn't long until she walked by his side, slightly out of breath due to the short-lived sprint to him.

"Ano... Where are we studying today?" She asked softly, breathing deeply through her nose with big curious eyes focused on him. Rolling his eyes at her forgetfulness, he slung his bag over his shoulder.

"It's your day today," Ichigo responded casually, watching her out of the corner of his eye, noticing she was walking with a slight bounce to her step. Was she excited about something? Gasping, she suddenly threw her hands into the air, her bag following her. She just about hit him square in the jaw if he hadn't narrowly dodged the flying satchel. "W-What the hell?" He questioned, still scared out of his wits at the sudden explosion.

"I didn't tell my family!" She cried, eyes brimming with tears. "They're going to hate me for not informing them!"

"Orihime, I don't think-"

"And then I'll have to live on the street because they think I'm a horrible person!"

"Oi, you won't live on the street. I wouldn't let that happ-"

She immediately dropped to the floor in despair, tears starting to dribble down her cheeks and off her chin. "Waaah, I'll have to live under the bridge like a troll!" She sobbed, bringing her small hands to her eyes, dabbing away the salty droplets.

_Just what the hell is wrong with her?_ Ichigo thought, groaning heavily at her outburst. He was familiar with her flare-ups of emotions, but this was by far one of the worse ones. Not to mention she was crying, and he really, _really_ no good at handling her when she was crying.

"Oi, Hime," Ichigo called her name as he kneeled down to see her eye to eye. Rolling down his right sleeve, he sighed again to see she hadn't looked up yet. Placing his hand on the top of her head for a short moment, he waited for her to glance back up. She did and he saw the tears outlining her eyes.

He promptly brought his unrolled sleeve to her face and started to dry her tears. A squeak of surprise escaped her lips and she flailed her hands, all while stuttering his name.

"You won't have to live under a bridge," he told her, scoffing at her idea. "You could always come live with me if that were ever the case." She brought her small hands to rest on his risen arm and she pulled it away from her eyes so she could look at him clearly. She puckered her lips in confusion, tilting her head to the side. Glancing away, Ichigo muttered a few additional words. "God, I bet your sister would _love_ that though..."

"Eh?"

Looking back at her, he gave her head a final pat before standing up. She still seemed to stare at him from the floor, cheeks a faint pink with baffled eyes.

"Are you coming or not?" He asked, rolling his sleeve back up and temporarily ignoring the soggy wetness of the fabric. As if caught looking too long, she turned a bit redder and nodded quickly, rising to her feet as well. She picked up her fallen bag and brushed it off in the same manner Ichigo did earlier.

Flashing him a bright smile, she bobbed her head in another nod to silently inform him she was just as ready as he was. Giving her a small smirk, they both began to make their way out of the school and towards their next destination.

* * *

"Tadaima!" Orihime called out as she lifted her knee to remove her shoe. The two teens got silence in return for a few moments as they took off their shoes and replaced them with their familiar slippers. However, Ichigo couldn't help but get a bad feeling in his stomach at the odd quiet. Her house was _never_ like this; it was always loud and rambunctious.

A small rumbling could be heard faintly and Ichigo had to strain his ears to determine what it was. It wasn't a moment later a body flew out of nowhere and enveloped him in a tight hug, his head unfortunately wedged between two large breasts. Holding his breath, he mentally groaned at how this happened _every fucking time._

"Okaeri, Orihime-chan!" A strawberry blond woman exclaimed, gripping him tighter. She stood a bit taller than Orihime and had blond hair with a red tint. Her eyes shone a bright cool gray color and she wore a smirk, all while gripping Ichigo into her large chest.

"O-Onee-chan!" Orihime exclaimed, raising her arms to flail them around wildly. "Y-You're killing Ichigo-kun!" Tears brimmed her eyes again as she grabbed a hold of her sister's arm, tugging on it insistently. Even now she could see his face turning red, border lining blue. It could only mean he had a lack of oxygen!

"Ah, so I am!" The woman raised her eyebrows as she pulled the boy from her bosom. "Okaeri to you, Ichigo-kuuuun~"

Ichigo fell out of the woman's arms and stumbled for a moment, trying to regain his balance. At least Orihime asked her to let go of him before it was too late. Shuddering, he could still feel the soft skin of that woman's breasts on his face.

_Ugh!_

"Do you have to do that every time I come here, Rangiku-san?" Ichigo scoffed, rubbing his face with his hand while fighting back a blush. She nodded and quickly stepped behind him, pushing him further into their humble abode.

"You're like family, Ichigo-kun! Of course I'm going to welcome you like such~" Rangiku purred before instantly wrapping her arms around his midsection, her slim fingers pulling apart the buttons and sliding under his shirt. "Mmmm, you've been working out as usual, I see!" She cooed, her digits travelling over his rock-hard abs underneath the white button-up.

He almost squealed like a girl had he not jumped out of her grasp, hands flying back towards his buttons with a heavy blush on his face. "N-Normal people usually don't feel others up!" He yelled out, stumbling back to Orihime's side. She watched him with puckered lips, her eyes wide with surprise and a blush settling on her face as well. In a distant sense, she was kind of jealous her sister could approach him so boldly like that. But on the flip side, she suddenly felt bad that she hadn't stepped in to stop her.

"Aha, that's where you're wrong, Ichigo-kun!" Rangiku grinned, sending a wink at her sister. "Orihime lets me feel her up all the time!" Using her hands, she motioned the actions of one grabbing another's breasts, fingers curling in and out. "She has such cute and perky breasts~" She chirped, almost tempting to go for her sister yet again.

"W-Wah, Onee-chan!" Orihime stuttered, raising her hands to her face in humiliation. "D-Don't say that to Ichigo-kun!"

"Eh? Why not?" Rangiku suddenly pouted, whining her question out. "Don't you li-"

"Orihime!" Another female voice called out as she entered the room. She stood a bit taller than her niece and had tan skin with vividly bright gold eyes, her hair tied high in a ponytail. Orihime smiled, practically out of relief. Her heart was racing a mile a minute because she was _so_ sure her sister was about to say something she wasn't supposed to.

"Y-Yoruichi-san!" She squeaked, skipping over to her aunt. Ichigo stood in his spot, still trembling from the earlier groping of his own and the new information that her sibling attacked her breasts on a daily basis. This house was full of crazy women!

"Okaeri, Orihime," Yoruichi smiled as she turned her relative around, giving her a hug from behind. "Did you get in any trouble today?" She asked, glancing over to Ichigo with a smirk now playing on her face. He saw this and felt his stomach flip again, feeling very untrusting of that coy smile.

"Nope! Ichigo-kun and I were perfect angels!"

Ichigo deadpanned. _Angels...? What the hell?_

"I'm always glad to hear my little niece was good at school~" Yoruichi purred, her hands sliding upwards from Orihime's waist. Ichigo saw this and took a quick step forward, watching her actions carefully. The woman behind his friend saw his actions and swiftly cupped the small girl's breasts from behind, inciting a loud squeak into the room.

"W-Wah, Y-Yoruichi-san!" Orihime cried, small mewls escaping her as Yoruichi worked at her chest, weighing her assets in her palms. Ichigo had frozen in his spot for a short moment, his brain temporarily fried at the unfortunately crude scene in front of him.

"Hmm, I think you've grown, Orihime," the woman spoke matter-of-factly. Rangiku, whom was off to the side, grinned and put thumbs up towards her sister, congratulating her on her efforts.

"Good job, Orihime! You're going to catch up to me in no time!" She chirped, smiling with a proud look on her face.

It was in an instant that Ichigo was by the two girls, grabbing Yoruichi's wrists to pull them away from Orihime's breasts. Orihime was flushed a bright red as she looked up to Ichigo with soft, thankful eyes.

"I-Ichigo-kun..." She mumbled, her hands falling back down to her sides while Yoruichi's palms and digits retracted back to her own personal bubble.

"I think Orihime's had enough of your groping today," Ichigo told her sharply, glaring at her hard. An awkward silence filled the room as the boy watched the two older women carefully while stepping back to get their previously fallen bags.

Once picking them up, he handed Orihime hers and put the free hand on her shoulder, guiding her to the stairs. The smaller girl started her descent up the stairs while Ichigo held back for a moment longer to look at both of them, still scowling. Even if her family did crazy things to her, he still had to be respectful since they allowed him into their home.

"... Thank you for your hospitality."

And he retreated back up the stairs.

* * *

The soft _click_ of the door latching shut sent a flood of relief through both of them. The closed entrance at least meant they had some sort of wall between themselves and the hectic women down below.

However, the two remained quiet. It wasn't so out of character for Ichigo to be more stoic and silent, but Orihime keeping her voice down somehow alarmed him a bit on the inside.

Regardless, he plopped himself down by the small work table in her room, deciding he would wait for her to talk when she wanted to. No matter how close they were, he would never force her to talk about something that could prove to be embarrassing to her.

Silently padding her way towards the table herself, Orihime let go of a small sigh as she sat down across from him. With her brows furrowed and a small pout, she could feel her cheeks burning incredulously, all because of the events back downstairs. She loved her family, hyperactivity and all, but the incidents from moments ago made her want to crawl into a hole and cry.

"I-I'm sorry..." She suddenly confessed while Ichigo was pulling out his homework papers. He stopped, letting them fall to the table as he raised a brow in confusion.

"For what?" He asked, now folding his arms across his chest. Orihime's stomach flipped as she blinked, quickly glanced back at the door, then back down at her lap.

"My family," she spoke quietly, folding her hands together nervously. "T-They talked about my... A-And Onee-chan did that to you," Orihime stuttered with her words, unable to finish various parts of her explanation. Another silence swept across them, sending some fear into her heart as to what he would say next. Her family did things to the both of them before, but this time was by far one of the most embarrassing times.

Her big gray eyes glanced up to meet his dark brown ones, instantly making her flush up harder. "Its fine," he told her in a low voice, never breaking his eye contact with her so she understood he was serious. "I mean, it happens all the time so I guess I'm used to it..."

His specific wording made her tense up and shift her eyes to the side. Now she felt even worse for letting it happen so often! But upon noticing her sudden change in body language, he felt bad as well for saying it in the way he did.

"No, what I meant to say was..." He grumbled, trying to fix his previous error. But how was he supposed to say it? Groaning in defeat, he brought his hand to cover his eyes, feeling even worse for hurting the girl across from him. "It's not like _you_ did anything, so it's okay..."

Orihime opened her mouth to reply, but he glanced over his hand to give her a warning glare of sorts, immediately causing her to snap her mouth shut.

"It's really fine, so don't apologize, Orihime," he spoke quietly, feeling off for not being able to find the right words. She seemed to nod in acceptance, although her eyes still shone with confusion and guilt.

Orihime bowed her head down and began to rummage through her bags, still keeping silent. Ichigo just watched her careful, but slightly jumpy movements, almost curious in what she was thinking now. Did she still feel bad about what happened? Or maybe now she was thinking about how her aunt inappropriately groped her? Even the latter made the teen's cheeks grow hot, sharing the guilt for that as well.

Raising her head, she tucked her fallen strands of hair behind her ear while darting her tongue out to wet her lips. "U-Um... What are we starting with?" She spoke quietly, nervous eyes gazing at him. He had to swallow twice and look away to avoid turning even redder at her particular pose.

"Uh... I was thinking English Literature," Ichigo replied, bringing a hand to pull at his collar. "Unless you wanted to work on something else first."

"N-No, that's perfectly fine!" Orihime squeaked, immediately diving back towards her small bag. It took her a few minutes, but she soon had retrieved the papers for the said class, a small smile on her face. "I thought lesson today seemed pretty easy. Should we maybe try to do it on our own for a bit, and then ask questions if we need to?" Ichigo merely nodded gruffly before delving into his work, attempting to focus all his attention on the loose-leaf paper.

Although he figured she'd have trouble at one point or another. It wasn't that she wasn't good at English Literature, but that they were studying William Shakespeare, something that was confusing to any person. Being an avid fan of his plays and sonnets, albeit secretly, he could easily help her annotate and infer different parts of his writing. Regardless, he would have to work on his own until she needed his help.

So Ichigo scribbled away at their assigned sonnet, making small notes next to key phrases and words that would be worth remembering. For some reason, he always seemed to scratch down more notes on the sonnets relating back to love. But then again, Shakespeare was known for his sonnets on love, and as well as death, unfortunately.

"A-Ah, Ichigo-kun?" Orihime asked quietly, taking her paper into her dainty hands. "I need help..."

_I knew it._

Nodding again, he motioned for her to come over by him so he could show her how to annotate properly. Shifting herself towards his form with a shy smile, she didn't hesitate at all to sit right in his personal bubble. Her elbow was touching his and her cheek was within inches of his own. For now, he would have to ignore her closeness and focus on their homework.

"What are you having problems with?" He asked, clearing his throat.

"Oh, um..." She seemed to fidget in her spot before putting her index finger to her lips. "All of it."

Rolling his eyes, Ichigo sighed lightly at her misunderstanding of the text, or lack thereof. But then again, he didn't think she would be able to get it anyways. Shakespeare was tough stuff.

She noticed his sigh and hunched her shoulders, suddenly feeling bad for saying what she did. "S-Sorry..." Orihime quickly apologized. Giving her a slight nudge, he gained her attention and brought her eyes up to meet his.

"Its fine," Ichigo reassured her. "That's why we study like this; to help each other." Her eyes seemed to light up at his comment and she beamed, soon returning her attention back to the paper.

"So... I was thinking that he was talking about how indecisive the sun is?" Orihime started, pouting her lips again as she pointed at a specific passage in the paper. "But I'm not sure that's right..." Shaking his head, Ichigo used his pencil to point at the same part of the sonnet.

"Nah, he's actually talking about a girl," he started, showing her the lines. "Well, most of his first hundred sonnets are related to love or some specific woman, so being this his 18th one, it's also about a girl." She seemed to gasp, surprised.

"Really? Show me where!" She exclaimed. Ichigo couldn't help but smirk a bit at her enthusiasm over Shakespeare. Hovering his finger over the first line, he leaned closer to the paper and to her as well.

"Here he's comparing a woman to a summer day," he started, watching her out of the corner of his eye. "Although he's saying this girl is more constant and lovelier than the sun. And because unlike the sun, which really shows up most during the summer, she's always there."

He could see her starting to fidget in her spot, her cheeks appearing to grow a bit pinker. Was she getting warm or something?

"Her beauty never fades either," his voice seemed to get softer as his fingers drifted over the paper. "Not time... Not death..." Blinking slowly, things seemed sluggish now as he explained to this to her. He looked at her, her big gray eyes staring right back at him. "She'll always be beautiful." He finished, half-wondering just when the hell the space between them got so close.

"... No matter what?" Orihime asked in the same tone of voice, her eyes fluttering closed for a few moments before opening again to reveal sparking gray irises. She leaned forward a bit closer, blushing at the feeling of his body heat radiating onto her.

Ichigo could only nod dumbly as he watched her and the slow, molasses-like surroundings, finding it peculiar that she looked at him the way she did. Not to mention her leaning towards him further piqued his curiosity.

Out of the blue, a loud, startling knock on her door scared them both. Orihime must not have expected it worse, seeing as she jumped back immediately. So far backwards, she began to fall, instinctively grabbing a hold of the back of Ichigo's shirt as she plunged to the ground. Flailing his arms as well, he moved his arms around and away from her small frame, doing his best not to squish her as they fell together.

Not more than a moment later, the two teens were on the soft, mesh carpet that was Orihime's floor. Ichigo did his best not to cripple her with his weight, but seeing as how fast they quickly fell (despite how slow time seemed to go), it couldn't be helped that they were caught in a compromising position. He hovered over her, his elbows propping himself up on the sides of her head, with his lower half nestled between her legs. Orihime's hands lay by her sides as she stared up at him with wide eyes and red cheeks, trying not to think too hard about how their chests were flesh up against one another.

"A-Ano, I-Ichigo-kun...I-"

"... It's nice to see you two working so hard," the voice from the doorway spoke solemnly. Instantly, the two teens sat up, both as red as strawberries. They seemed to avoid eye contact with another and focus more on the new person entering the room. "But don't stop on my account," the woman continued. "I'm just here to bring you two tea."

"T-Thank you, Retsu-san..." Orihime stuttered, watching her second aunt with careful eyes. Her motherly disposition always seemed to reassure her when she needed help, although she could be plenty angry and sharp when she needed to be. Orihime liked to think that without her around, it would literally be hell around their household. She worked as the figurehead of the home.

Retsu smiled at the girl as she placed down the tray with the tea cups. "Is there anything else you need?" Orihime shook her head probably a bit too fast, her auburn hair swinging with her wildly.

"N-No, we're just fine! But thank you for asking!"

Giving her a swift nod, the second aunt of Orihime's, whom could be recognized with blue-gray eyes as well and a black braid tied in the back, left just as quickly as she came. The two teens sat in silence once more, each almost too afraid to say anything; not after what just happened.

Bringing a hand to his neck, Ichigo rubbed the muscles in his neck, while glancing back at his homework. He knew Shakespeare was a romantic and, obviously, wrote about romance, but _damn... _He didn't think it would cause such sparks between the two. They were just friends, for heaven's sake.

... Weren't they?

Orihime seemed to shuffle her way back to her side of the table, avoid saying or even looking at him. He wouldn't lie; it did kind of hurt to be ignored like that. However, he knew she was one to get embarrassed over things easily. A prime example was how she was _still_ brooding over her sister's antics from earlier. Although he understood; just hearing how she was handled like that on a daily basis was embarrassing in itself.

He returned his attention back to his own homework, dully scribbling away a few more, albeit meaningless note onto his sonnet. He could hear the scratching from her own pencil as well as the occasional sigh which he chose not to question.

Holding back a groan himself, he could feel irritation bubbling up at the awkward silence. It wasn't so bad earlier when they were working hard, but now he felt that they were hardly working. At least not with the memory of him accidentally on top of her still fresh in his mind. But if she hadn't pulled him down in the first place, things might not be so uncomfortable now.

_Dammit!_

Ichigo heard a soft yawn escape the girl a few feet away from him and he glanced up for a moment, watching her head bobble back and forth as he eyes fluttered closed for a short moment.

"Oi, why don't you lay dow-"

_THUD._

Orihime's head fell to the table in one swift motion, even shaking the table a bit with her hard cranium. Ichigo nearly jumped out of his skin at the painful looking action, and was just about to go check if she was alright when he heard a snore escape her form.

_S-She's... She fucking fell asleep?_

Groaning again, Ichigo propped his head into his hands, wondering if he was to wake her up or not. Inwardly, he figured if he didn't see any blood oozing out of her skull, she might be okay for now.

A small strand of auburn hair that lay on the table interested him, and he picked it up carefully, twisting the locks around his fingers.

_Damn, she sleeps like a log..._ He mentally commented, noting how she hadn't moved an inch from when she painfully fell to the table. If he didn't know she was snoring, he couldn't presume she was dead.

Noticing her bangs were falling over her face, Ichigo leaned over the table to brush them away, tucking them back behind her ear. He couldn't help but send a small smile her way as he did so, finding her expression oddly endearing.

But then he froze and snapped his hand back, his fingertips still feeling the warmth of her skin.

_W-What the hell is wrong with me?_ He questioned himself, suddenly feeling very sick. Ichigo swiftly shoved his papers together and forced them into his bag, paying no mind to how crinkled and messy they were getting. He was stepping into dangerous territory with no good explanation, which meant he needed to get out _fast_ before he did anything worse.

Standing up quickly, he made his way to the door, taking one last glance at her slumbering form while mentally apologizing. He would make up an excuse later for his sudden absence, but for now he had to leave.

"Sorry, Orihime," he quietly mumbled, gripping the doorknob tightly. And within moments, he was out the door.

.

.

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	2. Chapter 2

Hello everyone! This is Ritsu-san bringing you the next chapter of RFD :D It's a considerably revamped version of the old chapter 2 of My Little Succubus. Anyway, here's the next chapter and hope you enjoy :)

* * *

Orihime stared intently into the mirror in front of her. Hands on her hips, she suddenly furrowed her brow and formed her lips into a scowl. Apparently not pleased with her attempt, Orihime doubled her efforts by deepening the scowl and straightening her back, making her appear taller.

For a full minute, she stared at herself in the reflection, only moving to brush her hair out of her eyes. As she continued to scowl at her reflection, her lips began to twitch and a flush began to creep into her cheeks.

"Oi!" she cried out suddenly before realizing that she was too high-pitched. Coughing, she tried again. "Oi, don't do that!" she said in a lower tone, staring at the mirror with her scowl, her eyes hard as she stayed serious. It didn't last long as her scowl broke into a big, bright smile as she started to giggle uncontrollably and clutched at her stomach, unable to contain her laughter anymore.

Falling backwards on her bed, her hair spilled out over the sheets as she giggled more, her bare feet kicking in the air as one arm held on to her stomach, the other one slapping against her blanket. She couldn't stop laughing as she imagined her best friend's funny scowl.

Taking a deep breath, a big smile still on her face, she stared at her ceiling. She thought about what Ichigo would say if he ever caught her trying to mimic him. _He would probably give me that confused stare of his before shaking his head and mumbling that I was weird or something. _

A snort escaped her as she remembered one time he gave her that look. She had been trying to explain to him how to properly apply make-up. Why she had tried she could no longer remember, but she could still distinctly see his absolutely baffled expression as her explanation served only to confuse him further. She giggled again, other snorts following afterwards as she rolled over. She had laughed at him, finding his expression adorable. Not that she would _ever _tell him that.

_Ah, if I told Ichigo-kun that, he'd probably be get flustered. _Unable to help stop herself, she let herself imagine the look he would have if she did tell him looked cute when confused, and her giggling erupted into louder laughter and snorting.

* * *

Ichigo's brown eyes stared at Yoruichi's pair of blue ones as a scowl stretched across the teenage boy's lips. His eyebrows furrowed more as he heard loud giggling. It made the woman across from him bring a hand over her mouth and laugh softly as he rolled his eyes, already knowing who was making such a ruckus upstairs.

"I think she's practicing again," Yoruichi said, taking a sip of her coffee as she sat at the dining table in nothing but a white button-up collared dress shirt, a few of the top buttons undone to reveal massive cleavage, while the hem of the shirt reached the middle of her thighs. She didn't seem to care that she was flashing a teenage boy her purple underwear as she sat on the chair, her feet propped up on the table, her other arm leaning against the armrest. "So adorable."

"Practicing what?" Ichigo asked as he tried not to look at the older woman. He had already been through a similar situation this morning when he had knocked on their door to have Yoruichi answer it with only a pair of undies and a hand towel over her chest, leaving absolutely nothing for the imagination.

His face had flushed to epic proportions as he immediately pushed her back in, screaming to put some clothes on whenever he came around. It had taken lots of pushing and shoving before Yoruichi had agreed, much to Ichigo's relief as she changed into a shirt but nothing else.

He had promised himself that he wasn't going to look at her anymore this morning, not until she got some _damn _pants on.

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know, Ichigo-kun?" Rangiku asked, jumping forward and pulling him into a hug, making him grunt as he flailed his hands, not wanting to return the hug. She was much older than him, though she acted more like a kid than anything. A very well _informed _kid. "Mm... why don't we go check on Hime-chan?"

"No, thanks," Ichigo muttered as he pushed against her shoulders and turned around, a blush stretching across his cheeks. He did not want to go into her room again. At least, not after what almost had happened last night. He didn't know what would happen if he went in there again. He didn't want to walk into dangerous territory.

"Aw, Ichigo-kun! You're no fun!" Rangiku cried out as she jumped forward again, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders, her cheek pressed against his as he yelped in surprise. "Come o-o-o-on! Hime-chan still has her cute pajamas on and everything!"

"Listen, I'm not intereste-" Ichigo was cut off as the sound of pounding footsteps echoed from upstairs, making all three of them turn to see Orihime running down the stairs before she jumped over the last three, landing on the carpet with ease.

'Morning, Ichigo-kun!" She saluted him, grinning from ear to ear. "You're here early!"

"It's the same time I always come..." Ichigo muttered as he watched her take a step towards him, still wearing her sunny smile. Suddenly her leg gave out due to strain from the landing and she fell towards Ichigo. With considerable speed, Ichigo dove out of his chair and caught her before her noggin could rendezvous with the floor.

"T – Thank you, Ichigo-kun," Orihime murmured as her hands gripped his shoulders.

"Careful Orihime," Yoruichi said as she set her coffee on the table before stretching her arms. "We can't have Ichigo saving you all the time. He won't always be around for you," she said as she glanced at Ichigo who gave her a glare as Rangiku let him go.

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Ichigo asked as he helped Orihime up. "I'll always be here for her, no matter what."

"It's okay," Orihime assured as she stood up, with his help. She smiled gratefully before pressing her index fingers together. "I should become more flexible!" She shot her fist up in the air, connecting with Ichigo's chin. The impact made a loud, sickening crack as Ichigo howled in agony.

"Oh no! Ichigo-kun!"

"...and that would be why I said, he wouldn't always be around," Yoruichi said, smirking. "I think she's more likely to injure him than injure herself."

"True, true," Rangiku agreed as Orihime ran around Ichigo, flailing in worry as Ichigo rubbed his chin.

* * *

"So, Shakespeare's sonnet about the sun; would someone care to explain it for me?" the instructor asked, pushing up his glasses, looking over the classroom at his now silent students. The class had gotten deathly silent after he had asked and it made him frown in disappointment.

"Bananas..." A mutter slipped from Orihime's mouth as she had her elbow propped up against the surface of her desk, a bit of drool slipping out of the corner of her mouth. "No...more bananas, kind sir."

Ichigo sighed quietly from his seat next to Orihime's, though his brow was furrowed in concern. It wasn't like her to fall asleep in class. Quickly glancing at the instructor to see if he was looking in their direction, he then nudged her with his elbow. "Hey, Orihime," he whispered.

"They'll destroy us…" Orihime shifted away from Ichigo, slightly batting his hand away though she was unaware of what she was doing.

Undeterred, Ichigo nudged her harder with almost enough force to send her toppling out of her seat. She let out a short scream as she managed to catch herself on her desktop before she could fall out.

Looking down, he rested his cheek against his hand, muttering, "Great. That worked wonderfully."

"Eh?" Orihime mumbled as she looked at the teacher to see him scowling at her. It made her sink down in her seat, though she had to mentally compare it to Ichigo's. Her conclusion was that it wasn't nearly as great or amusing as Ichigo's.

"Inoue Orihime." The deep, menacing voice of her teacher made her cringe inwardly, realizing that she was in big trouble. "Would you please come up to the front and explain this sonnet?"

"M- Me?" Orihime asked in shock as she looked to her left, then to right and behind her. She pointed to herself, hoping that he was just playing around but that didn't seem like the case when she was nudged in the side by her best friend.

"Go up there," Ichigo whispered, making her swallow thickly as she stood up, dusting off her skirt before walking slowly up the front where the intimidating chalk board stared back at her. She felt uneasy as she stood in front of the teacher as he pushed up his glasses again.

"Explain the sonnet from page 192, please," he ordered, making Orihime's eyes widen as she tried to remember what was on that exact page. They had to read many of Shakespeare's sonnets for class, but her panicking mind couldn't recall which sonnet was on that page.

Horribly confused and embarrassed, she glanced back at Ichigo to see he was giving her a sympathetic gaze. She felt warm at the thought that he was worried about her, but as he mouthed some words, her brow furrowed.

_Eh? What's he doing? _Orihime wondered silently as she felt more confused when Ichigo slapped his hand against his forehead. As he looked back up, he mouthed "sun". The word was enough to trigger her memory, and she smiled gratefully before spinning around to explain.

"U - Um..." Orihime started as she pressed her index fingers together again, a habit of hers when she was nervous. "W-well, the sun it could... well... it means the sun might be indecisive-" She was cut off as a loud sound of something falling against the floor made her jump in surprise. She jerked around (with the rest of her class) to see that Ichigo's book had fallen on the ground.

"Uh...sorry, my mistake," Ichigo mumbled as their eyes locked. He narrowed his eyes, shaking his head and she felt her confidence plummet. Shakespeare's works were already very confusing but to explain a sonnet... she wasn't sure if she could do it.

Then in a moment of saving grace, her memory pulled through as she recalled her conversation with Ichigo yesterday.

_"So... I was thinking that he was talking about how indecisive the sun is?"_

_"Nah, he's actually talking about a girl."_

"Ah!" Orihime cried out, making her teacher step back a little in surprise. "He's talking about a girl, sensei! In this sonnet, he's comparing a girl to the...umm... to a summer day!" she started, stumbling over her words, feeling more nervous. "He's saying that this girl is really pretty."

The teacher was about to speak when Orihime clapped her hands together. She was on a roll now. "Oh, and even if the sun goes down, the girl doesn't. She's always up!" Orihime nodded, reaffirming what she had said. "No matter what happens though, she always stays positive!"

"Er..." the teacher started, apparently a bit taken aback by her interpretation. However, it _was _an interpretation and he couldn't say it was wrong, only different. "A-All right. Well done. You may go back to your seat now."

"Yes!" Orihime pumped her fist as she skipped back to her seat with a bright smile before sitting down. "Ichigo-kun, I did it! I understand now what you were talking about!"

"Yeah..." He smiled amusedly. Her interpretation hadn't quite hit _all _of the important points, but nonetheless, her interpretation was certainly unique. Just like her.

* * *

"And that," Orihime said, pointing to her (maybe) edible concoction in front of her, "is how you make a salami and broccoli rice ball!"

"I … I see," Rukia said, blinking a couple times.

From his spot next to Rukia, Renji leaned down to inspect the rice ball more closely. "You know, this doesn't look too bad anyway. At least it's not like the kakigori and syrup creation from last week."

"That actually wasn't bad either," Rukia said under her breath. Honestly, most of Orihime's concoctions _were _edible; they just didn't seem to be at first glance.

"Oi." Ichigo set his lunch bag next to Orihime before plopping himself down next her.

"Hey!" Orihime took her chopsticks and pulled out some rice and salami from her rice ball. "Look what I made. Would you like some?"

Long having grown used to being a taste tester, Ichigo nodded and took the bite offered by Orihime. He chewed on it thoughtfully before nodding. "Good."

Orihime beamed, pleased that she once again had Ichigo's stamp of approval. "I showed Renji-kun and Rukia-chan how to make it, too!"

Ichigo shot his friends an expectant stare. "And?"

"And _what_?" Renji shot back with a confused and irritated frown. "We can't make one here, unless you expect it to pull it out of our asses or something."

Rukia elbowed him in the gut, forcing the larger man to double over. "Don't be so crude!"

"I've heard you say some _crude _things yourself, you know," he said with a wheeze.

"I have never!" Rukia turned away from him indignantly.

He rolled his eyes, letting the argument that he would surely lose drop.

Orihime plucked some more of the rice out of the ball. She popped the bit into her mouth and chewed happily. "Mmm, this is one of my best yet, I think. Maybe I can make it for my aunts and sister sometime." Nodding to herself in self-agreement, Orihime pulled out another chunk from the rice ball, she suddenly felt cold as dizziness overcame her. She blinked a few times, feeling sleepy. It looked normal but she suddenly felt very tired. Shivering, she dropped her chopsticks as a hand went over her forehead.

_What...what's wrong with me? I feel nauseous, _Orihime thought as she rubbed her forehead.

All three of her friends had noticed her sudden change in behavior as they all sported similar expressions of concern. Rukia leaned forward towards Orihime. "Are you all right?"

"I don't know... I just got all tired all of a sudden," Orihime mumbled, rubbing her eyes. "I feel kind of dizzy, too."

"Come on, I'm taking you to the nurse," Ichigo mumbled as he helped her stand up but her eyes widened momentarily before she decided to protest.

"N-no, no nurse! I'm fine... I just need to wake myself up!" she said, pushing herself up to her feet. "I'll go to the bathroom right now!"

"Well you're not going alone," Ichigo said as he grabbed his lunch bag. "Come on, I'll take you."

"I-Ichigo-kun, no it's fine-" She was cut off as Ichigo glanced at her with a frown and she sighed in defeat, knowing better than to argue.

"Fine," she said with a sigh.

* * *

As Ichigo walked across one of the school's sports fields, a voice shouted from somewhere behind him, "Hey, Ichigo!" Ichigo sighed before squatting, a blurred image flying over him and falling face first in the grass.

He stared at the lump in the ground before replying, "Yo, Keigo."

"Yo..." the brunette muttered as he waved his hand in the air, his face still in the ground. Ichigo stood up after his answer, scratching the back of his head as he glanced over at some girls playing volleyball. Orihime was with them, and she looked really determined as she spiked something over the net and it made him smile. It looked like she was doing okay, after all.

He had taken her to the bathroom earlier and had asked her why she was so tired. He had also asked her what had happened after he had left when she had fallen asleep the day before and she said that she couldn't remember. She woke up this morning in her bed, in her pajamas like she had fallen asleep naturally.

_Maybe her family put her to bed... I should have woken her up before leaving, _Ichigo told himself as he watched her jump in the air, bouncing the ball off of her hands. She seemed rather lively now so maybe it was just a lapse? She looked fine now so he really didn't have anything to worry about. _Should I say something though? To Rangiku-san and the others? I know Orihime doesn't like to worry people but if there's something wrong with her, I want to fix it. _

"Let's play, Ichigo!" one of his classmates shouted and Ichigo nodded before turning and beginning the game with his friends.

Moments later, Ichigo was seen running across the field, a soccer ball in front of his feet as he kicked it to where it would stay in front of him. Sweat dripped down his face as he dodged another player, running more quickly as he saw the goal in front of him. He smirked with confidence as he skidded to a stop, placing his foot on the ball, pulling it backwards as one of his classmates went to kick it, missed and fell backwards.

"Shit!" he yelled out in pain as Ichigo kicked it around him, heading right towards the goalie. A glint of determination was seen in his eyes as the goalie cowered, knowing what was coming.

Bringing his leg back, Ichigo kicked with all his power, letting the soccer ball fly through the air at lightning speed. It barely passed by another player's face, skimming his nose as it went straight to the goalie. Ichigo's aim was off though as it bounced off the side of the goalie net, ricocheting and flying past Ichigo and straight to where the girls were playing.

There were screams as the girls dodged the ball, yelling "WATCH OUT!" or "RUN!" as it flew past them, but one girl simply turned around, a bit spaced out. She didn't see the ball heading straight her way. "Eh?" was all she could let out before it connected right in the middle of her face, knocking her flat on her back.

Ichigo's expression fell from triumphant to horrified as he watched the ball smack Orihime in the face. He quickly forgot about the game he was playing as he rushed towards Orihime. Kneeling down next to her, he hovered over her as she moaned in pain, her face bright red from the object that had hit her.

"Orihime, can you hear me? Are you all right?" Ichigo asked as she emitted another whimper.

"Ichigo-kun?"

"Yeah," Ichigo said in relief. He held up a few fingers when she opened her eyes slightly. "How many fingers?" he asked, holding up three fingers, hoping she would get them right. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Six. No, maybe nine."

"Oh hell," Ichigo muttered as he placed his arms underneath her neck and legs, pulling her up and carrying her bridal style. "You have a concussion, don't you?"

"Ichigo-kun..." Orihime mumbled, her arm hanging limply at her side as Ichigo ran across the field, taking her to the nurse's office. He really hoped that the concussion wouldn't prove too serious and no permanent damage had been done. Otherwise, he would have several angry people to answer to.

.

.

.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hm..." The small girl hummed, her eyes closed with cheeks slightly flushed. Orihime lay on the temporary nurse's with her friend at her side. He sat in a hair he pulled over from the other side of the room, his hands folded together as he stared intently at the girl. "I'm seeing funny things..."

Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, Ichigo glanced off to the side for a moment, swallowing thickly. "Like what?" She promptly sat up upon his questioning, making him grow alarmed at her sudden movements. "O-Oi, don't sit up! You could have a concussion!" Damn, where was the nurse when they needed her?

"Mou, I'm fine..." She grumbled lightly although it was obvious she wasn't by the way she bobbed her head back and forth. "I see blurry things though."

"Which is another reason as to why you should lie back down," he scolded lightly, moving his large hands to rest on her small shoulders and gently push her back down. However, in response, she slapped her hands onto his cheeks, a small _oof_ pouring from his lips upon impact. What did she think she was doing, smacking him like that? Was she trying to pinch his cheeks again? "If you pinch my cheeks again, I swear I'll-"

Only she didn't. She wore a small, almost coy smile as her eyes opened partially, not too much. "It's fuzzy, but..." Her thumbs travelled down to his lips, her light feather-touch just barely running over the flesh. "I think I see a pair of lips..." Her fingers did the same, twitching against his cheeks. He blinked slowly, just wondering what the hell she was going on about. Although, the contact on his lips made him want to shudder and just embrace the feel, but somehow he didn't feel like she'd be too happy to find out about what she did later.

Orihime moved her thumbs away from his mouth and let her index fingers trace the outsides of his eye, not getting so close as to accidentally poke him. "Something brown too. Like chocolate," she giggled, letting a sigh escape afterwards. "But my favorite color out of all the things I'm seeing..." Her dainty hands then resumed to snake upwards, intently locking themselves in his bright tresses. "The orange... It's so pretty."

Had she really just called his hair pretty? His eyes fluttered closed for a moment, trying to real back what little grasp he had on the situation. He didn't like the lack of control here.

"Orihime, I don't think you should-" He started, his voice much lower than he intended. But she just looked at him funny, her eyes half-lidded as well while her lips formed into a small pout.

"Ichigo..." She whispered, her hands burying themselves further in his dark locks. "Oh, Ichigo..." Her sudden, and very surprising, lack of suffixes made him freeze. She _never_ acted like this. She was so different; he could only assume she was behaving oddly because of the hit to her head. He soon moved his hands to her wrists and attempted to free her digits from his hair. There was a slight tugging sensation on the strands, but the sooner he could get her lying back down, the better.

Her grip on his head was shockingly tight. It wasn't like she was going to rip his hair out, but she was acting stronger than she was supposed to be.

"Orihime," he called her name firmly, maybe just hoping she'd let go at the tone. Luckily for him, she did and her hands dropped back by her side. She tilted her head in confusion, those lowered eyes seemingly appearing blue for a short moment. He assumed it was just the lighting while he swallowed hard again, keeping a small blush at bay.

She seemed nonchalant as she plopped herself back onto the mattress, a soft gasp escaping her upon impact. Orihime stayed still as her hands continued to twitch uncomfortably against the sheets, finding herself growing oddly cold. Yet as far as she knew, she wasn't getting goose bumps or anything else. It was like she was just internally chilled.

Her eyes closed and she scrunched brows together as she felt nausea and dizziness from her earlier hit to the head return. Perhaps sitting up wasn't the best idea and she should've listened to Ichigo.

"Are you alright?" He asked cautiously, definitely taking note of her suddenly pained expression. She nodded subtly, fisting the sheets in her hand as she tried to force a smile.

"I-I'm alright, I'm just feeling sick all of a sudden..." She replied quietly, forcing a groan to stay away.

"Maybe... I should find the nurse then," Ichigo offered, almost a bit too quickly. He rose from his seat and was prepared to leave, a bright blush still evident on his face. She really didn't want him to leave though, and she snapped back up to yank at his sleeve, holding him back.

"No, p-please don't leave," she whimpered, falling back onto the bed while still clinging to his arm. The pull backwards had him falling a few steps, almost tripping over his own feet. Luckily, he regained his balance and used his free hand to stabilize himself on the mattress. Looking down at her, his stomach churned uncomfortably at her pained expression, knowing she was hurt but couldn't do anything about it.

"... Don't worry," he told her quietly, still allowing her to hold his sleeve. "I'm here." Her ached expression seemed to melt a bit at first, giving him a small rush of relief. It didn't last long, however, as Orihime suddenly winced again and arched her back off the mattress. The cold inside her was being insistent and her body was suddenly... craving something.

Forcing her eyes open, she saw Ichigo's worried ones looking right back, his face no more than a foot away from hers. In her muddled state, something was off, she noted.

Admittedly, she liked Kurosaki Ichigo. What started out as a friendship bloomed into something bigger. An accidental, very embarrassing, but also scary meeting with the two unlikeliest of people that changed into one of the best relationships she'd ever had. She was usually able to keep herself focused more on their friendship rather than her silly crush over him. However, recently she kept finding herself stepping over that fine line.

Like now was an example. Her eyes roved over his lean form, noticing just how good looking he really was. His brown eyes were tempting her, practically looking at her and telling her to do something oh-so-scandalous while his lips looked awfully tempting to kiss. But what was she thinking? Ichigo would never like her like the way she did him. Although as uncomfortable as she was now, he was the only one in the room, thus being the only one to help her.

"Ichigo..." She mumbled again, squeezing her eyes shut tight as she took his larger hand in both of hers, holding it for just a short moment. She could feel him freeze again at the new shift in holding, making it seem that he wasn't expecting her to hold his hand like that.

"Ori...hime?" Ichigo asked brokenly, his hands trembling slightly from the look on her face. It wasn't so much a look of pain anymore as it was... something else. Something that could turn him red all the way down to his toes.

And in a quick moment that still somehow managed to slow down significantly, Orihime thrusted his large hand onto her breast, a noticeable moan escaping her lips as she did so. "Ichigo..." She called out to him in a low tone, sounding almost desperate as she guided his hand to close a bit around the mound, inciting a squeezing action.

It was safe to say Ichigo would've most definitely pulled back and yelped had Orihime not had such a strong grip on his hand. It was again that she seemed to be awkwardly strong and kept his hand in a place it really shouldn't have been. Or perhaps he could've just been weak and unable to pull it back properly. She left one hand on the that covered her breast, making him grasp it firmly one more time while her other hand blindly crept upwards as if searching for something. She grabbed for his collar, but not before letting her fingertips grazing his suspiciously burning skin.

In a swift movement, Orihime pulled Ichigo down by the collar and crashed his lips onto hers. She mumbled his name out as she continued to force him to grab and release her breast while kissing her. Her cheeks burned hot and she half-heartedly noticed things were clearing up. She was not feeling as tired, and in fact, her head wasn't as dizzy as it was before.

Ichigo was torn as to what he should do while he instinctively moved his lips against hers, letting his weight fall closer to her small form. He let his knee rest on the edge of the bed as he noticed her hand was sort of slowing down. She wasn't so much forcing him to grope her like she originally had him do. Orihime seemed more focused on kissing the life out of him as her hand snaked around his neck and pulled him closer. He had to mentally swear at just how bold she was, kissing him like she did and having him touch her like such.

He could feel his own mind growing fuzzy as she pulled her closer. It wasn't that he didn't like to be in this situation, but he knew it wasn't right. He desperately was afraid of jeopardizing his friendship with Orihime over this. He _knew_ she wasn't normally like this.

Or was this sudden confidence and courage from her a sign that she liked him? He had to admit, a small part of him was positively thrilled at the idea.

Inwardly groaning her name, his hand drifted downwards, his hands tickling her thigh a bit as he sought after her skirt. His fingers quivered as it smoothly moved under her pleated bottoms. His breath came out in sharp pants as he continued to kiss her, never paying mind to the fact they were kissing in the nurse's office.

A hearty shove promptly stopped Ichigo's actions as well as sent him to the floor. Flabbergasted, he looked back up at the bed to see Orihime with wide eyes and an incredibly dark blush.

"... Did I..." He started cautiously, in a lower tone than he intended. "Go too far?" She looked confused, almost, at his question but she kept her hands folded under her chest. It was as if she was going into a protective stance.

"W-What..." She stuttered, unable to collect her thoughts. "I-Ichigo-kun, w-what have I done?" Tears started to collect at her eyes and it was evident. She shivered and backed herself away, furthering away from him.

"You... I... We were..." Even Ichigo was unable to finish his sentence, seeing as his face turned a red as well upon complete realizing of what they had just done. "... Kissing."

A loud shriek scared the hell out of him as Orihime jumped backwards, sending herself to the floor as well. "N-No! I-I didn't know!"

_Didn't know? What the hell is she going on about?_

She clutched at her head, not moving herself from the floor. Ichigo was watching her from the bed now, just moments ago getting himself off the cold tiles and closer to watch her.

"W-Why?" She suddenly questioned.

"Why what?"

"W-Why were you putting your hand under my skirt? Did you kiss me? I-Ichigo-kun, what else did we do?" She was crying now, soft sobs escaping her as she confusedly pulled at her hair. "I-I can't remember anything!" The last part of her statement struck him as bewildered, baffled as to how she could forget such a make-out session of such fervency. But then a thought hit him like a train.

Not only did he have his first kiss taken, but hers was as well. What if she actually liked some other guy and was saving it for him?

_Oh fuck._

Slowly, he outreached his hand to her, trying not to scare her. "It's okay, Orihime! Everything's fine."

"N-No! It's not!" She sobbed, scrambling to stand up and get her bag. Seeing him so flustered yet so confused made Orihime sick to her stomach. What else had they done? He refused to tell her, it seemed, yet she still couldn't ignore the temporary blackout. One moment she was asking for him to stay, the next he was partially on top of her, kissing her hard and deep while his hands was making its way up her skirt. They were just friends! How could they have done such thing?

Throwing a hand to her lips, she also just realized her first kiss was taken. In any other situation, she would've been thrilled it was Ichigo whom she had it with. However, a slew of emotions was making her go haywire and caused her to be more confused and scared than anything.

"I-I'm sorry! I need to go!" She suddenly yelled out, grabbing at her book bag before dashing out the door. She didn't even give him another chance to call for her and _maybe_ explain things, although he was confused himself. He was left alone in the nurse's office, the only sounds around him being his slightly labored breathing and the end-of-school bell alerting students it was time to go home.

He could only look at his hands in disgust while wanting to know just what the hell happened. Something was up and he knew it. What he didn't know was that her sudden change was just the beginning of something much larger than he could ever understand.

* * *

Her feet couldn't seem to carry her fast enough as she raced through the streets. Her shoes made loud slapping noises against the ground while small sobs escaped her lips. As much as she tried to wipe away the tears as she ran, they just continued to pour. She wasn't sad or regretting what she thinks happened; she just can't believe she more than likely forced that on Ichigo.

Her house came into view and Orihime didn't know whether to be relieved or upset further. She was glad to be home where she could be in her room alone and cry her eyes out, but she had lots of family in the house, most of which could be overly curious at times. Rangiku and Yoruichi definitely fit into that category. Just thinking about her troublemaking relatives made her tear up further, as she didn't want anyone to find out about what she had done.

Sniffling, Orihime grabbed the handle of the door, wiping her face again with the sleeve on her free arm. "T-Tadaima..." She called out to no one in particular. After thinking about it, she probably shouldn't have said she was home. She didn't really want to be poked and prodded about what happened. However, if she didn't alert others of her being home, it would've been suspicious as to why she was so quiet. A distressed sigh came from the girl as she noted how this was another no-win situation.

"Orihime-chan!" Rangiku chirped, bounding through the hall just like every other day. "How was school?" Pulling her sister into a tight hug, she could hear Orihime squeak at the sudden action. Rangiku grinned happily, as she absolutely loved hearing that sound from her. It was just so cute!

"O-Onee-chan!" Orihime yelped, not entirely expecting the hug. "S-School was fine!"

"Ah, where's Ichigo-kun?" She suddenly stopped, loosening her hold on her sister. "Rather, why aren't you over at his house? Don't you normally go over to his place every other day?" Orihime unintentionally froze in her arms, forgetting she was to go to his home for their study day. Although, even though she still felt incredibly bad for forcing him like that, it was probably for the best that she didn't spend even more time with him.

Orihime never liked lying, but it looked like now would be one of the times she'd have to wiggle out around the situation. "He wasn't feeling good..." She said in a quiet voice. "I-I'd rather he rest at home then try to do homework with me."

"Aww... Hime-chan's so considerate!" Rangiku smiled at her sibling's generosity. "But you could've stayed there and rubbed his tummy to make him feel better!" Orihime squealed and jumped in her sister's arms, flushing at the idea of running her hand over his abs.

"O-Onee-chan!" Orihime threw her hands to her face in absolute embarrassment. How could her sister says things like that so easily?

"You're so cute when you're flustered!" She cheered again, sporting a huge grin. "I still can't believe you don't have a boyfriend." Rangiku stopped suddenly and forced her away from the hug, the smile she just had replaced with a deathly serious stare. "Not like I'd let any boy date you anyways. All they think about is sex, those perverts."

Tilting her head with slight curiosity, Orihime started to wonder if Rangiku would call her a pervert for what she'd done to Ichigo. Her cheeks flushed hard again upon thinking about that last bit of kissing him. It was embarrassing to admit it, but he seemed like a good kisser...

Orihime kept silent as she picked up her previously fallen bag, letting her eyes stay glued to the floor. "I'm going to be in my room..." She told her quietly as she moved towards the stairs. Rangiku silently followed her, her hands folded behind her back. Orihime didn't notice how she was following behind her at first until she was at the top of the stairs, just a few steps from her room. She was obviously startled at her sudden appearance and gasped. "W-What are you doing?" She questioned.

"Something's up," was all Rangiku said.

"Nothing's wrong, Onee-chan. I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

Why was it always like this? No matter what happened, she always saw right through her. She could try to act happy, but Rangiku always knew when something was wrong.

Orihime kept her head bowed as she then opened the door, motioning for her sister to enter. Rangiku didn't need her sibling to say anything to know she was probably going to explain what was going on. However, part of her nagged inwardly at a suspicious thought, a possible explanation for why as to Orihime was upset. But until she heard the story, she couldn't confirm anything.

She sat on her bed, her eyes never leaving the smaller girl's figure, watching her put down her book bag with disdain. The more interesting thing to note was the dark blush on her cheeks.

"Ichigo-kun isn't sick..." Orihime started quietly, her small fingers twisting the fabric of her sweater around. "That is, I-I mean... He could be sick of me, if anything."

"He could never be sick of you, Hime-chan. It's obvious he cares for you," Rangiku reassured her calmly. Orihime purposely avoided her gaze, glancing off instead to her closet. Perhaps she could change while she explained, maybe distracting her a bit.

"I think I did something bad..."

"... How bad?"

Orihime stayed quiet for a moment, instead padding her way to her closet with pursed lips. Sliding it open, she looked for comfy clothes she could change out of instead of hanging in the clothes she wore to school.

"I-I kissed Ichigo-kun..." She mumbled quietly, but still loud enough for Rangiku to hear. Rangiku raised a brown, interested in what she had just said. Partially because she didn't think Orihime had the guts to do it, but if she continued to tell her story, it might just further confirm her suspicions.

"You make that sound like a bad thing, Hime-chan!" Rangiku chirped, trying to lighten up the mood a bit for her dear sister. "It's obvious you like that dense strawberry, so what's wrong with kissing him?" Stopping again, Orihime grabbed the hem of her sweater and pulled it upwards off her slim form.

"I... I-I can't remember why I did it," Orihime openly told her, letting her sweater drop to the floor as she held back stinging tears. "I-Ichigo-kun accidentally hit me with a soccer ball during gym so he took me to the nurse, but..."

Rangiku leaned back on the girl's bed, seeing her figure shake as she talked. As much as she wanted to reassure her darling sister, she knew it wouldn't do her any good until she got it all out in the open.

"I was asking him to stay with me and not leave one moment and the next he was on top of me, k-kissing me with his hand going up my skirt..." Orihime flushed hard and forced herself to hold back a small groan at remembering the amazing kiss she shared with him. Or would it be considered taking it away? She couldn't really assume anything so she was stuck with the assumption he didn't want it. In short, she was being forceful and perverted. "W-What if he calls me a Hentai the next time I see him?" She suddenly cried out, snatching at one of her shirts from her closet.

Rangiku couldn't help but smile and giggle at Orihime's last statement. It was obvious Ichigo would never call her that, but seeing her imagine the possibility he would was downright adorable.

"He won't, Hime-chan," Rangiku assured her, still smirking as she stared at the ceiling. "You said you got hurt before though? How did you feel after that?"

Orihime couldn't help but turn around with confused eyes and scrunched brows, wondering what that had to do with anything. Sliding on her loose tee, she just assumed Rangiku was being kind and just asking how she felt.

"I felt better... All the tiredness and dizziness seemed to fade a bit."

_Bingo._

Sitting up, Rangiku shrugged and glanced at Orihime, all while wearing a small smile. "I'm glad you felt better," she spoke simply, thinking more about her responses before saying them. "Although it's very bad Ichigo-kun hit you."

"O-Oh no, it was an accident! I was so tired, my reaction time was slowed down, is all," Orihime explained, starting to fiddle with the hem of her shirt.

"Either way, it's something everyone goes through!" Rangiku told her, suddenly piquing the girl's curiosity. "Teen's get horny and you all want to start jumping each other."

"O-Onee-chan!" Orihime squeaked, flushing and throwing her hands to her cheeks. How could he sister be so openly crude? "I-I'm not feeling h-h... like that!"

Rangiku smirked and winked, her disposition very coy. "Sure you aren't."

"I-I'm really not!"

Deciding Orihime had enough teasing, Rangiku hoisted herself off the bed, a small "Yosh," coming from her lips as she stood. The smaller girl continued to blush as she watched her sister make her way towards the door she came through originally.

"Ichigo-kun won't think badly of you, you know," she told her as she gripped the door handle. Orihime couldn't help but look back to the ground, feeling shame and embarrassment flood over her yet again. Even if Rangiku said he wouldn't, she really wouldn't know unless she asked him directly. Just the thought of bringing it up again made her turn bright red all over again.

A moment later, her sister left her alone. Orihime stood in the center of her room, her heart weighing down with guilt. Maybe it might not be a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but how could she ask Ichigo to forgive her for doing something so forward? They were just considered friends, as much as it hurt sometimes. Dragging her feet to her bed, Orihime bit her lip in distress, particularly not wanting to deal with this situation now; not when her emotions where still all over the place. However, the longer she'd wait to fix what she'd wrong, the harder it would be for her to approach him.

* * *

So what was Ichigo supposed to do next? He practically sulked all the way home _alone_, he might add. He and Orihime had walked home together for so long; it was actually kind of lonely to be by himself.

Sighing and glancing up at the cloudy sky, the teen hoped it wouldn't rain. Although it might match his mood nicely with the downpour, he really disliked it.

Kicking a nearby pebble, Ichigo was still stuck on what he should do. Images of kissing Orihime and running his hands over her body never left his head and it left him with a constant level of heat in his cheeks. He had to fight back a groan at the thought of her tiny hands rising up to pull at his collar and tug him downwards. Not to mention the feeling of her small hand on his, guiding him to cup her breast made him shudder all over again. When he walked out the door this morning, making out with Orihime in the nurse's office was something he definitely hadn't planned for the day.

Heck, he never really planned to kiss Orihime in the first place.

Okay, so maybe he's thought about it a few times... She was a beautiful friend of his and how could he not think of less mentionable things while around her? It was just that he forced those kinds of thoughts out of his precisely _because_ of their relationship status. Just friends didn't go around sucking each other's faces off.

Sighing again, Ichigo knew he didn't exactly regret kissing her. He obviously worried how he did considering it was indeed his first kiss, but she didn't seem to push him away despite the last bit before she ran out. But on the flip side, she was the one who forced his hand to indecent places and kissed him like there was no tomorrow.

Scowling hard, he started to wonder if he would ever make light of the incredibly confusing situation. Either way, Ichigo still felt an immense guilt in his heart for going so far. He had to shake his head and clear irritating thoughts out of his head. Why was he getting bewildered over Orihime? What he really should've been worrying about was himself and how he selfishly continued like he did.

The teen wasn't going to lie – what happened in the nurse's office was actually pretty hot. He and his perverted boy mind even went so far as to think of how he wouldn't mind doing it again.

But he forced her; _Inoue Orihime_ of all people. Ichigo knew she was by far the most innocent person he'd met and whatever went through her mind back at the school apparently was short-lived considering her tearful face and distressed tone as she ran out the door.

Ichigo stepped onto the familiar doormat into his home, eyes never leaving the scruffy brown pad. He frowned, feeling very uncomfortable with this slew of unfamiliar feelings. Why couldn't have things just stayed the same? Sure, the occasional sparks between the two were manageable, but things were hard to manage when they went above that. Perhaps it was because he wasn't used to it at all.

Pulling at the doorknob, the redheaded teen took quiet steps into his home. He knew his dad was somewhere in the house and he didn't particularly want to be punched at the moment.

Although, as luck would have it, all it took was a small creak of the floorboard to send Kurosaki Isshin, Ichigo's father, barreling through the foyer.

"ICHIGOOOOOO!" He cried, sharply kicking his son straight in the stomach, sending the boy to the floor. "Welcome home!"

"Get off of me!" Ichigo yelled back, grabbing his stomach as he inwardly groaned in pain. He already had enough on his plate; he did _not_ need his father's usual antics on top of it all. "You're so fucking annoying!"

Already standing back up, Isshin's face as he spotted something unusual, or rather, lack thereof. "Ah, where's Orihime-chan?" Was all he asked. Ichigo looked back behind him, almost half-expecting her to be there too. He guessed that after having her over so many times, he was used to seeing her behind him.

"... She had other plans," he disinterestedly explained. As far as Ichigo knew, her plans were to get far, _far_ away from him.

"Awww! But I was going to show her your baby pictures!" Isshin sobbed, bringing his hands to his face to wipe away tears. Ichigo's own face exploded into a bright red as he sputtered incoherent nonsense.

"W-What, for the eighth time already? I swear I need to burn those damn things up!" Ichigo roared, growing embarrassed even now, just by thinking about the first, and hopefully, last time his dad managed to show the album. He remembers her amazed face, her lips puckered into a small 'O' as Isshin pointed to various pictures of himself as baby, toddler, and other ages. However, the most embarrassing, nerve-wracking one was the one he never wanted her to see.

Hell, any kid that had their picture taken as a one-year old, diaper in one hand while stark naked for the world to see would hate to show it to anyone.

"See! Look at little Ichigo!" Isshin cooed, pointing to that particular picture. Orihime's bright red face but small smile still remains fresh in his mind as his father finishes with, "And there's his even littler Ichigo!"

Bringing a hand to his hand in defeat in the present, Ichigo sighed and desperately wanted to find that book this immediate moment and burn it till it was nothing but a pile of ashes. Then he'd burn the ashes.

"Boo, you didn't scare her off, did you?" Isshin inquired, snapping the teen from his thoughts.

"What? How the hell could I do that?" He growled, glaring at his father. "Besides, you'd scare her off first before I did..."

"E-Eh? That doesn't sound like something I would do!" He cried in return, starting to stomp his feet onto the ground like an immature child. "Orihime-chan is like my own daughter, I wouldn't dare scare her off!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes as he could already replay his father's infamous 'Orihime is family' speech in his head. He of all people knew how she was already considered family to them all. The first time they'd all met, they hit it off really well. Of course, aside from the continuous string of questions of whether or not she was his girlfriend. Looking back, he probably didn't need to answer back so quickly and forcefully as he had, scaring his new friend so badly. And realizing now, he started to see she had really changed a lot. Not just physically, but she had a lot of fears that he never thought she'd be able to get over.

"Whatever..." Ichigo grumbled, throwing his bag over his shoulder, blatantly ignoring his dad's rambles. With today's events, he was getting mentally exhausted and being around his father was not a wise idea in that kind of state. "I'll be upstairs."

More ignoring of his elder followed as the teen trudged up the stairs, scowl deeply embedded on his face. He was already getting a headache from trying to figure out the situation from earlier and now his father's yelling even from across the house was getting to him. Luckily he had a lock on his bedroom door and it was relatively quiet, for the most part.

His hand clicked that lock as soon as he stepped into his room, an awkward sense of calm washing over him. Normally he felt relieved to be in his quiet room, but with those events from earlier still fresh in his mind, he couldn't find himself relaxing at all. It was odd how now, feeling so stressed out, he wasn't able to calm down. Life always seemed to work that way though for him. When he wanted something the most, he wasn't able to get it.

Flopping down onto his bed, a distressed laugh escaped him, finding the irony of it all. It was the same with Orihime too.

Of all the things he wanted, he wanted her to like him _more _than just a friend. But life sucked, and he knew she never would.


	4. Chapter 4

_Woo-hoo! Another chapter! Sorry this took a bit, but this is the first chapter I actually had to write for this series, so it took the muse a bit to adjust and get on board. However, enough rambling. Here is the fourth chapter. Hope you enjoy, and thanks to everyone who reviewed! Ritsu-san, out~_

_

* * *

_

Ichigo faced a dilemma that no one ever wanted to face. It was not the worst thing in the world to happen, but the situation was _so _awkward that even the most stoic would want to bury their heads in sand. Yes, Ichigo was in the awkward situation of having to avoid his friend. Not just any friend, either. It was his best friend who he happened to have a growing crush on.

Really, he had brought the whole thing on himself. What did he expect when he made out with her in the nurse's office yesterday? Then again, he really hadn't been expecting anything because he hadn't even been _thinking. _He just acted on his gut.

Now he had to pay the price. As the high school loomed in the distance, Ichigo inhaled deeply and pressed on towards the school. It was the first time in what felt like ages that he hadn't walked to school with Orihime. A part of him felt that he should have, but he couldn't bear to face the long, sure to be awkward trek with her to school.

This, in turn, made him feel more of an ass than he already did. _But this has to be awkward for her, too, _Ichigo thought as he neared the school. _So maybe it's better for both of us if we don't walk together. At least for now. _Maybe it was a piss poor justification, but it was all he had.

"Ichigoooo!"

Instinctively, Ichigo stepped to the side as Keigo hurled himself at him. Thanks to Ichigo's dodge, Keigo was not met with a face full of Ichigo but of concrete as he did a face plant on the sidewalk. "Yo, Keigo."

"I need to work on my aim…" Keigo slowly pushed himself up off the sidewalk, holding his nose as it throbbed in pain.

"You need to work on your stealth," Mizuiro said as he strolled over towards his friends, texting away on his phone. "And maybe not scream every time you're about to attempt to tackle him."

"B – But I like my joyous greeting to Ichigo every morning!" Keigo whined. "It's a vital part of our daily routine and of our friendship! Right, Ichigo?"

Mizuiro frowned when Ichigo didn't respond; the spiky-haired teen was too busy staring intently at the ground, his mind zoned out. "Ichigo?"

"Huh?" Ichigo lifted his head up. "Oh hey, Mizuiro."

"You all right?" Mizuiro asked, pocketing his phone for the moment.

"Yeah. Why?"

"You're kinda quiet," Keigo pointed out.

"I've never exactly been the chatty type."

"You've never exactly been the zoning out type either," Mizuiro retorted with a concerned frown. "Is something bothering you?"

"Nah." Ichigo forced a fake smile. "Just stuff on my mind. Let's, uh, get to class."

As he began walking, Mizuiro and Keigo exchanged concerned glances but said nothing as they followed him into the school.

Ichigo glanced back at them and sighed quietly. _Sorry guys. _He hated being a liar but this wasn't something he could really talk about. Keigo would just screech in jealousy and ask why he didn't continue things further, and Mizuiro would just pat him on the back and continue texting on his phone or something.

Keigo was babbling about something, and Ichigo was about to comment on whatever it was when a familiar flash of auburn hair diverted his attention and halted any and all other thoughts. Further down the hallway, coming straight towards them was Orihime. There was a bright smile on her face as she waved to a few people she passed in the hall, but only Ichigo knew that it wasn't her usual, natural smile. Hers was just as forced as the one he had given Keigo and Mizuiro.

Inevitably her gaze met his. Her eyes widened and a flush reddened her cheeks immediately. Ichigo kept telling himself to look away, but his body refused to budge. The first thing that flashed through his mind when he saw Orihime was their heated kissing the day before. He remembered how sweet her lips tasted and how silky her thigh was beneath his hand. Instead of the guilt he should have been feeling, he felt the overwhelming urge to take her hand and pull her into the nearest janitor's closet and continue where they left off.

He took a step towards her, intent on following through with this urge. He might have to, if it hadn't been for Keigo.

"Inoue-chan!" Keigo yelled as he waved towards her. His ecstatic yelling and waving were enough to snap Ichigo out of it. He blinked, and immediately felt ashamed for what he had thought and for what he had almost done.

_The _hell _is wrong with me? I see Orihime and the first thing I think of is doing… that. I need to get a grip. _He rubbed his left temple, annoyed at the sudden headache that was forming.

"Hello, Asano-kun," Orihime said. She briefly glanced at Ichigo and then looked back at Keigo. Her hands fidgeted with the books in her hands as he began to talk about something with her. Ichigo wasn't listening to what he had to say, and from the way Orihime kept glancing at Ichigo, neither was she.

Unable to stand it any longer, Ichigo sighed. "I'll see you in class, guys."

"Okay…" Mizuiro said as Ichigo strode quickly towards their classroom without even greeting Orihime or acknowledging her. It added a few more points to his "asshole total" but he didn't know what to say to her or if there was anything _to be _said.

* * *

Unfortunately, class didn't help much with the situation. It might have, if Ichigo and Orihime weren't sitting right next to each other. Those were assigned seats, though, so there was no getting around it. It just made for a very long school day.

Ichigo couldn't count the number of times he looked over at Orihime and struggled to think of what to say to diffuse the tension. An apology would never be enough, not for his behavior. What did you say to the best friend you took advantage of? 'Oh hey, sorry about making out with you without your consent. Hope it's not a big deal for you.'

_There has to be a way to deal with this, _Ichigo thought as the bell rang for the next class period to begin. Things could not go on like this. He wasn't going to lose his friendship with Orihime just because of one really hot, intense make out session in the nurse's office. His desire to continue what they had started yesterday was insistent and annoying, but he valued his friendship far too much to let it get in the way.

"Hello class," the literature teacher said as he walked in. "We have a lot to do today so we're going to hit the ground running. We're moving on from Shakespeare's sonnets and onto the first of his plays. We'll be starting with _Romeo and Juliet_, one of his most famous tragedies."

_Oh great, _Ichigo thought dryly as the teacher began writing notes on the board. _Just what I needed, to read one of Shakespeare's romances. _

"We're going to read the first act out loud in class today," the teacher continued, "So you guys will have a feel for Shakespeare's language before you read the rest of the acts on your own."

Ichigo was hardly paying attention; he was too preoccupied with his own thoughts. The teacher turned around and must have seen how Ichigo paid the lesson no mind, for he frowned at Ichigo and said, "Not interested today, Kurosaki-san?"

Biting back a sarcastic retort, Ichigo said, "It's not that. I've just already read the play before so I know what's in it."

"Oh?" The teacher raised his brow. "Good. Then perhaps you can read Romeo's lines in the first act for us, since you already know it so well."

Ichigo resisted the urge to slam his head against his desk. He couldn't believe he had been dumb enough to say that. Now he had to read out loud in front of the entire class, and not to mention he was reading _Romeo's _part, the biggest romantic idiot of them all.

"Now, who would like to read Juliet's part?"

Several girls in class raised their hands, but the teacher didn't seem interested in calling on any of them. Instead, his eyes fell on Orihime, who was doing her best to be invisible. "Miss Inoue. Your unique interpretations of Shakespeare's works would certainly make this reading interesting. How about you read Juliet's lines?"

She nodded, and Ichigo sighed. The irony of the situation didn't fail him, and he almost would have found it funny. Then he remembered the last scene of the act and his stomach dropped. _Oh hell no…_

He glanced at the clock as the teacher assigned all the roles in the act. _Maybe we'll run out of time, _he hoped as a student behind him began reading the chorus' introduction. _The act is pretty long, so we might not even get to the last scene._

However, as the minutes slowly ticked by and they plowed through the acts, Ichigo's heart began to sink into his stomach. The teacher didn't interrupt nearly as much as Ichigo thought he would, and before he knew it they were in the fifth scene. He swallowed and readied himself for it as the ball scene began.

He read through his lines, trying to go slowly without being _too _slow and hopefully lessening his chances of having to read Romeo's first encounter with Juliet. His attempts failed rather miserably. As Renji, who had been chosen to read Tybalt's part finished his lines, Ichigo shot Orihime a nervous glance before he mentally braced himself.

When Renji was done, Ichigo began Romeo's first words to Juliet, "If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: my lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."

From the corner of his eye, he saw Orihime flush lightly. She read, "Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, which mannerly devotion shows in this; For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss."

Normally this next line of Romeo's made Ichigo want to roll his eyes and think, _What an idiot. _However, today it just made him want to go crawl into a hole and never come out. "Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?"

"Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer."

Ichigo was pretty sure he was blushing too by this point in anticipation of what was to come. "O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do; they pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair."

Orihime's flush deepened, and Ichigo wanted to grimace. She probably was realizing by now where this little scene was going. "Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake."

For the first time, Ichigo sort of sympathized with Romeo's plea as he read, "Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take. Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged."

Orihime was now bright red and failing miserably at fighting her blush. Her voice nearly cracked as she read, "Then have my lips the sin that they have took."

Ichigo could practically picture the scene in his mind. Naturally, he put himself in as Romeo and Orihime as Juliet and his perverted imagination filled in the rest. He almost forgot about the scene and quickly read, "Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again." _'Sin again' indeed. Sweet baby Buddha, what is wrong with me?_

To get it over with as fast as possible, Orihime blurted in one breath, "You kiss by the book."

The bell pealed, and the teacher smiled approvingly. "Well done everyone!" he said. "Read the rest of the play for tomorrow."

"Damn you bell," Ichigo muttered as he slunk down in his seat and hid his face from view, hoping that the furious blush would be gone by lunchtime.

* * *

"Well, _that _was certainly a fun literature class today," Rukia quipped dryly as she took a seat next to Renji at lunch. She raised her brow at Ichigo and Orihime, who were keeping their distance from each other.

"Yeah, real fun," Ichigo muttered sarcastically under his breath. "Nothing like getting to act out the part of the biggest romantic moron in the history of drama."

"Geez, Ichigo," Rukia said with a perturbed stare. "He's only fourteen years old or so in the play and he's not that bad. Foolish, maybe, but not bad. Don't you sympathize with him at all?"

He did, and that was the problem. Ichigo was becoming more and more infatuated with someone he felt he _shouldn't _be infatuated with, just like Romeo, so he did understand the young man's predicament. However, he'd rather toss himself off a cliff and do a belly flop a spike than admit that to Rukia.

"He's an idiot. I never liked him." Ichigo shrugged off Rukia's disbelieving stare as he bit into his sandwich.

Rukia put her hands on her hips. "I think he's admirable. He's romantic and loyal."

"Yeah, you would you obsessive shoujo manga reader." Ichigo tossed his half-eaten sandwich to the side, his appetite diminished.

Renji rolled his eyes. "You're not all pissy about this just because you had to act out a smooch scene with Inoue, are you?"

Rukia chuckled when Ichigo and Orihime remained silent on the matter. "I think he is, and Inoue's been quiet the whole time, too. Come on you two, it was just a scene from a play."

"Drop it, Rukia," Ichigo said.

She leveled a stern glare at Ichigo, and whatever teasing had been in her voice was gone as she said, "Okay, what's going on? I'm missing something here." She glanced back and forth between the pair. "You both have been acting odd all day. Did something happen?"

Rukia's keen observational skills irritated Ichigo to no end, especially during times like these. The problem was, if he denied it, it would only serve to further confirm her suspicions. To her, denial meant affirmation. With his mind scrambling to think of something, Ichigo glanced briefly at Orihime, who was staring intently at the table. _She's probably thinking the same thing, _he thought as he looked back at Rukia. "Look, it's just awkward acting out a scene like that with your best friend. We're fine, okay?"

Her eyes hardened, and her message was clear: I don't believe you.

_To hell with this. _Ichigo abruptly stood up from his seat and grabbed the rest of his lunch. The longer he stayed, the more likely Rukia and Renji were to figure out what had happened, and Ichigo really did _not _need that right now. "I'm going. I'll see you guys later."

He turned and left without so much as a nod or even a glance at Orihime, leaving Rukia and Renji completely confused.

_

* * *

_

_I wonder if I should have stopped him, _Orihime thought after Ichigo disappeared from sight. _Then again, would it have done any good? _She shook her head slightly to herself. Maybe if she had confronted Ichigo about all of this sooner then they wouldn't be where they were at.

She had considered approaching him when she first saw him this morning, but then she had seen that… that _look _in eyes and everything inside of her froze but felt like was on fire at the same time. Once his intense gaze had locked with hers, everything she had thought of saying to him disappeared from her mind. Instead, she had instantly thought of their steamy session the day before and how she suddenly wished they were in the nurse's office again.

"Inoue?"

Orihime lifted her eyes to Rukia, who was looking at her in concern. "U – Uh, yes?"

"What was that about?" Rukia jerked her head in the direction Ichigo had left in.

Telling Rukia the truth would not end well, at least for Ichigo, so Orihime was forced to opt for a lie. She swallowed and said, "We, um… we… got into a fight."

"A fight?" Rukia said.

"Um, nothing major! It's pretty stupid, really." Orihime waved her hands in front of her. "I plan on talking to him about it after school! So it'll be fine. Just a misunderstanding is all," she said with a nervous laugh.

The peal of the bell saved her from further explanation. Orihime leapt to her feet, almost knocking over her chair as she grabbed her lunch and hastily bid Rukia and Renji good-bye.

Rukia put her hand to her chin and frowned in puzzlement. "We are definitely missing something here. And why are they lying?"

"Only one reason you lie to your friends," Renji said as he stood up. "and that's because the truth's worse."

* * *

Orihime didn't actually talk to Ichigo like she told Rukia she would. She knew she _should, _but the problem was she didn't know _how. _The predicament occupied her thoughts on her lonely walk home. She never realized just how far the walk was. Usually she walked with Ichigo, so the distance was always filled with conversation. Without her companion, the streets seemed to stretch on forever as she trudged home.

No answer came to mind when she walked through the threshold into the house she shared with her aunts and sister. "I'm home," she called out softly, though her usual cheeriness was absent.

To her surprise, as she walked into the dining room, she found her aunts and sister all sitting together at the table. This wasn't unusual, save for the thoughtful looks they all wore. It was evident they were having serious conversation, and _that _was a bit unusual for the normally upbeat, laidback household.

"Oh, um, sorry," Orihime murmured when her family turned towards her, pausing in mid-conversation. "I'll just go-"

"Wait, Orihime." Yoruichi beckoned to her. "This pertains to you."

"Me?"

"Yes." Her aunt smiled patiently at her. "Don't worry, it's not like you're in trouble or anything. We just have to talk to you about something."

"Oh, okay…" Orihime set her books down on the table and took a seat next to her sister. "Did something happen?"

"That's sort of what we wanted to ask you." Rangiku tossed some of her hair back behind her shoulder, giving Orihime a clear look at her serious expression. "I told them about what happened yesterday with Ichigo."

Orihime blushed as the scene popped into her head for the umpteenth time today. "I don't even know what that was. It was just weird."

"How do you feel today?" Unohana asked her. "Any headaches? Lack of energy?"

"No. I feel fine." _Physically, _she added mentally. _Not so much on the inside. _"No soccer balls to the head either."

"I would hope not," Rangiku added with a chuckle. "But how about with Ichigo-kun? Anything odd? Any… urges?"

Orihime could be a bit naïve at times but even _she _knew what Rangiku was implying. "Ur – Urges?" She covered her face with her hands. "N – No, I mean, why would I?"

"Orihime." Unohana's stern voice made Orihime lower her hands to meet her equally as serious gaze. "Please. You need to be absolutely honest with us about this."

Lying to her family had never been successful. They could read her too easily, and not to mention she was terrible at lying in general. Resigned, Orihime sighed and said, "There was one instance today. Just one! It was when… well, Ichigo-kun and I haven't really talked all day. When I saw him in the hall today, I thought about talking to him and maybe trying to work things out. Then… I don't know." She could still vividly remember his heated stare. "I kind of forgot my train of thought and I kind of wanted to… um…"

"Push him into a closet and kiss him silly?" Yoruichi suggested with a sly smile.

The deepening flush in Orihime's cheeks answered for her.

"Thought so," Rangiku said with a glance towards Unohana. "It's starting then."

"What's starting?" Orihime asked.

"The change." Unohana reached across the table and gave Orihime's hand a gentle squeeze. "You're going to go through a change soon, and these urges are going to increase."

Orihime's mouth dropped in sync with her stomach. "Y – You mean, like puberty?" They already had had this talk with her years ago.

Yoruichi snorted. "This is much more than just puberty and hormones, Orihime. We're talking much bigger than that."

There was a look exchanged between her sister and her aunts, a look of nostalgia and knowing. For the first time in her life, Orihime got the crawly, tingly feeling up her spine that her family was hiding something from her. Whatever it was, it was something significant. "What…" She looked back and forth between her sister and aunts. "What are you talking about?"

Of all the damned timing, the doorbell suddenly rang. Yoruichi gracefully leapt to her feet and ran towards the door. "Pizza's here!" she shouted.

"B – But, what about-"

Rangiku patted Orihime on the head. "We'll tell you more in time," she said as Yoruichi brought the pizza into the dining room. "But I do suggest you talk to Ichigo-kun. These urges are going to increase, and you need to sort things out with him before something else happens."

Orihime stared in shock as her sister and aunts dug into the pizza like their conversation had never happened. _More urges? How does she know that for sure? And what's this… change? _The urges she could handle. It was this impending change that worried her. What's more, her family seemed to be skimping out on the details.

Yet there was one thing she was sure of. Her sister was right: she had to talk to Ichigo, and soon, before more of these urges started and before things grew worse.

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	5. Chapter 5

_Yay, a new chapter! This is Star-chan, bringing to you the next chapter for RFD. Enjoy!_

* * *

A permanent red hue seemed to settle on Orihime's cheeks, she noticed, as she looked into her mirror. Whether it was caused by thoughts of Ichigo or the conversation with her family the prior night, she couldn't clarify. What she did know for sure was that she found herself growing quite lonely without Ichigo by her side.

Sighing as she slipped on her skirt, she wished she knew how to apologize to him. For more things than one, to specify, but the main concern was what happened in the nurse's office two days before, and how she purposely avoided talking to him yesterday.

Orihime had given it a lot of thought, so much she spent the night tossing and turning with indecisiveness, but she hadn't determined the best way to say sorry to her friend. Scratch that, how to approach him at all. With how she continued to blush just by thinking about him, she was beginning to doubt she'd ever be able to come near him again at all.

"N-No, I can't think that way!" Orihime whispered harshly to herself, pulling her top over her head. _There has _got_ to be a way to talk to Ichigo-kun, _she mentally finished.

And then there was the cryptic discussion with her family last night. The very brief discussion left her mind stuck on what the urges and changes would be, when her thoughts weren't otherwise focused on a familiar redhead. Pouting to herself, she had wished her family clued her in better on what was going on. Their puzzling words left Orihime stressed further, in addition to her problem with Ichigo.

_That darn pizza_, she thought, grabbing her brush and glancing at her clock for a short minute. _It was very good, but it interrupted something very important!_ Orihime quickly straightened her hair and soon placed her hairpins in, tucking her bangs under them.

As Orihime continued to getting ready for school, she felt a nervous, but confident feeling rise up into her. She would talk to Ichigo today. She knew she wouldn't be able to handle not talking to such an important friend for much longer. Even if what happened in the nurse's office was extremely embarrassing and compromising, Orihime refused to let it wedge the two apart any longer.

Forcing a cocky smirk into her lips, one that purposely resembled Ichigo's, Orihime pumped her fist into the air with determination. "Today will be the day!"

* * *

The walk to school had never felt lonelier for Ichigo.

For the second day in a row, Ichigo found himself walking to school alone. His heart sank at the lack of presence, and he could swear he was hearing Orihime's timid voice as he walked along, despite her not actually being there. He felt silly for imagining things that weren't there.

His dad had whined to him earlier this morning too, as Ichigo was on his way out the door. Something about scaring away his future daughter, and how he was sad to never see her again. It was an idiotic thing that spewed from his mouth, like usual, but Ichigo had to mentally agree to the scaring her away part. What had happened days prior was something that was both their faults, Ichigo rationalized in his head. Orihime may have initiated it, but Ichigo frightened her by not stopping and going out of her comfort zone.

Turning the corner into the school yard, Ichigo mentally promised, _one more day_. He'd give her another day, and if they continued to avoid each other and he still felt such an odd loneliness over her, he'd approach her and fix all of this. But imagining another day without hearing her cheerful voice, the one that usually brightened him up, seemed like a ridiculous, forlorn notion.

Ichigo was suddenly greeted with an elbow to the stomach, painful and quick, which made him bend over in agony. The appendage was all too familiar to his stomach, unfortunately, so he could immediately tell who it was.

"W-What the hell, Rukia?" he cried out, groaning in pain. Rukia stood before him, Renji at her side, and she folded her arms across her chest. Her expression was less than pleased, but her hit to his abdomen was enough to tell Ichigo she wasn't happy.

"Good morning, Ichigo," she said, and Renji couldn't help but laugh at Ichigo's now pitiable state. Ichigo shot a nasty glare at the redheaded man, but Renji's laugh fell to an amused chuckle instead.

"That's not the way you greet people in the morning, Rukia," Ichigo seethed, standing up to his full height once again, trying to ignore the ache in his abdomen, but instead pressed a hand to the painful spot. "And you're even worse for laughing about it, moron."

"You deserve it," Rukia continued, her face still reading unhappy. Ichigo could see how he deserved it, but he didn't understand how Rukia would know or care about it. "Where's Inoue?" Her voice was sharp as she inquired.

"How should I know? I haven't seen her since yesterday after lunch," Ichigo snapped back, an irritation similar to yesterday's beginning to show itself. Rukia and Renji had no place during the dispute between him and Orihime, and to him, it seemed obvious that it didn't want to be talked about by either party. But just as Rukia is, she wanted to know and would not stop questioning until she got to the bottom of things.

"So she didn't talk to you after school?" Ichigo shook his head and gripped the handle of his school bag tightly. On the inside, he wished they had talked after school and cleared things up, but such did not happen.

"No, she didn't. Now if you'll move out of the way, I'm going to class before I'm late." Ichigo was ready to take a step towards the school building, past the other duo, when an all too familiar voice called out to him.

"Ichigo-kun!"

Turning around, his heart dropped into his stomach while staring down those oncoming pair of gray eyes. It had to been good to hear her, not to get him wrong, but he hadn't expected her to come to him so soon, if at all. All words and conversations he played in his head were now gone in an instant as he saw Orihime approaching.

"We'll just be going. See you in class," Rukia spoke out loud, knowing very well Ichigo wouldn't care about their dismissal anyway. Once he saw Orihime, any conversations they'd try to hold would be long over. Grabbing a hold of Renji's sleeve, Rukia led them both off into the school building to leave the two alone.

Swallowing hard, Ichigo felt an odd heat rise to his cheeks. Minutes ago, he was hoping they wouldn't avoid each other anymore, but a tension between them both had him feeling like he was reliving the embarrassment of the nurse's office all over again, in addition to the completely blank brain. What was he supposed to say to her? Kicking himself for a moment, he thought maybe saying her name would be a good start.

"Orihime...?" he said her name carefully, watching her face turn bright red as soon as it left his lips.

"I... Ichigo-kun, I wanted to talk to you..." Orihime spoke softly, her small hands holding onto the handle of her school bag as if it was her only lifeline. Ichigo rubbed his neck awkwardly, feeling unsure about how this potentially crucial conversation would go.

As Orihime opened her mouth to continue talking, the first bell rang out into the schoolyard, signaling only five minutes left until class. A look of uneasiness and guilt settled onto both their faces, but Ichigo compelled himself to cut the conversation short, at much reluctance.

"Can we talk about this later?" he asked, his voice wavering slightly. "Class is about to start, and we'll be late if we don't get going." Orihime nodded, her cheeks still burning, and she watched as Ichigo turned around and disappeared into the school building.

_Phooey..._ she thought, pouting and pressing a hand to her red face. _That didn't work out at all like I planned. I probably should've left earlier to catch him beforehand._ Taking in a deep breath, she reassured herself she'd get him next time; that is, if school bells or other distractions didn't get in the way.

Orihime had tried to approach Ichigo again during lunch. As a group, they had gone down to the cafeteria and taken their spots at their usual table. With Rukia and Renji animatedly discussing something about the English lesson in front of them, Orihime took the opportunity to poke at Ichigo's side, her eyes nervously glancing up at his.

Feeling the odd poke to his ribs, Ichigo stopped and looked to Orihime, seeing her timid expression, but eyes reading of some sort of want. "What is it?" he asked, keeping his voice purposely low as to not have their other friends overhear.

"I-Ichigo-kun, do you think we could..." Orihime started out unhurriedly. "Well, instead of eating here, do you think we could go somewhere else?" Her cheeks were heated as she replayed her own words in her head. If she wasn't mistaken, they could easily been taken in the context that she wanted a lunch date.

Ichigo opened his mouth to respond, but much like Orihime this morning, he was forced to snap it shut once he realized the two in front of them had turned to stare at them. Both pairs of eyes were avidly curious, so much it immediately irritated Ichigo. He _knew_ if they went elsewhere now, Renji and Rukia would make a point to tease them about skipping lunch to do other things, claiming them to be a couple. In their eyes, it would be teasing, but for those who knew of the actual situation, it would make the matters worse.

"Not now, Orihime," Ichigo told her, his tone towards her unintentionally cold. He was still frustrated with Rukia and Renji, but some of that annoyance may have leaked into his pattern of speech around his best friend. "We'll talk later, okay?"

Again, Orihime was forced to nod and hold back the words she'd been rehearsing in her head ever since the moment she woke up. This was the second time he put their conversation on hold, and if she heard right, his tone of voice with her just now wasn't exactly a pleased one. Had she been asking him too much to talk?

Sitting down with the others, her brown-bag lunch in hand, she told herself it was a silly idea. He had never been angry with her before, so what reason would he have to start now? Well, aside from the fact she was trying to bring up the most embarrassing event that had ever happened in the entirety of their friendship. Orihime would admit that embarrassment like what they were feeling could supposedly warrant other negativity.

Ichigo and Orihime remained silent for the duration of the lunch period, like the day before. Each would throw in occasional comments relating to the conversations at hand, but they would not speak to each other. Orihime was busy figuring out the best way to apologize to him, and Ichigo's thoughts were all in a mess anyway.

Avoidance was abundant for the remainder of the day, much to Orihime's dismay. She hadn't found any other opportunity to talk to Ichigo, which only resulted in a nervously beating heart and reciting apologies in her head until she had them down pat.

At the end of the day, Orihime made a beeline straight towards Ichigo, whom was at his shoe locker the time. She knew her face was red as a tomato and her expression probably read as something immensely frazzled, but she knew _now_ had to be the time to talk to him.

Orihime tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around seconds later. She had to take a deep breath before spilling out the words she'd already blurted out before. "I-Ichigo-kun, can we-"

"-Talk?" he finished for her. He gave her a small smile and a curt nod as he finished putting on his shoes. "I can walk you home... If you'll let me." In her mind, Orihime knew she was more than willing to let him walk with her. If anything, it'd give her that sense of normalcy she'd been missing out on for the last few days.

"I-I'd really like that!" Orihime found herself stuttering, giving him a big, nervous smile. If there wasn't the bit of tension on the air, she'd have to say things almost seemed perfectly normal between the two.

It wasn't long before they were out the school yard and on the all too familiar street that was on the way to Orihime's house. Another uncomfortable silence settled between them for a while, before Orihime inhaled sharply, then quickly shouted out, "I'm sorry!" Ichigo's previously padded footsteps came to a quiet halt, and he turned to face his blushing best friend with wide eyes.

"... This is about the other day, right?" Ichigo asked quietly, trying to keep his own blush at bay.

Nodding, Orihime tightened her grip on the handle of her bag. As much as she wanted to look at the ground in shame, she forced herself to look straight at Ichigo while speaking. "I-I was so forward, and it was so wrong of me to do something like that to you." Her face was strained as she tried not to turn into a bumbling mess of tears. All the mortification and embarrassment was coming back at full force, and she felt terrible.

"Its fine, Orihime, really," he tried to reassure her, but Orihime shook her head in disagreement.

"It's not okay, Ichigo-kun!" she protested, raising a hand to rub at her eyes. Inhaling shakily, she regained her composure a little before continuing. "I made things so awkward between us, all because I wasn't thinking straight in the nurse's office... It just sort of happened."

Frowning ever so slightly, Ichigo started to wonder if she hadn't meant to kiss him that day. He had already admitted to himself that she would never like him the way he did her, but the impromptu make-out session did give him a small, tiny bubble of hope.

"I should apologize too..." he replied, kicking a small pebble that was by his foot as a means of distraction. "I scared you pretty bad, and I feel terrible about it... I'll confess I was caught up in the heat of the moment," he blurted out, his cheeks burning. "Which ended up with me touching your, um, leg... Sorry for that too." The latter apology was said in much more of a hushed voice.

Orihime could recall the way his large, warm, and calloused hand was about to sneak up her skirt, and she instantly flushed at the memory. "I-It was just surprising, is all," she tried to reassure him. "I was a little frightened, but not by you, Ichigo-kun, just the situation." Ichigo did feel a little bit better knowing he didn't scare her entirely, even though he still believed he did.

"So..." he started again, bringing his hand to his neck. "You want to forget about it then?"

Nodding, Orihime gave him a small smile. "I guess so. If that's alright?"

On the inside, Ichigo knew he wouldn't be able to forget it, nor would he want to, and Orihime was just the same, although she'd never admit it.

"Yeah, that's cool. Whatever you want, Orihime." Ichigo smiled with that kind, yet slightly cocky grin that he reserved only for her. Even though her mind was still in a jumble, she could feel relief on her shoulders knowing things were back to normal between them again.

It was an impulse, really, and given the situation they just went through, it probably wasn't appropriate, but Orihime felt it was important anyway. She took a step closer to him and gave him a quick hug, with friendly intentions only. Startled, Ichigo just about dropped his bag to the ground and flailed around. But from feeling the sincerity of her embrace, he gave her a light pat on her back and smiled down softly at her, even though she wouldn't see it.

Just as quickly as Orihime hugged him, she pulled away with a silly smile and a nervous laugh. Truth be told, it made Ichigo's insides warm up, because he knew she was the normal Orihime again.

"Do you want to come over to my place for homework today, Ichigo-kun?" she asked, turning to take steps towards the direction of her house.

"Sure, if I'm not intruding or anything," Ichigo commented back, hanging along her side as they walked. Orihime let out a tinkling laugh, one that Ichigo always enjoyed, and shook her head.

"You're never an intrusion! You know my family is fond of you."

"Tch, you can say that again," he retorted, his tone a mix of sarcasm and playfulness. "They take the chance to jump on both of us the moment we walk through the door." Orihime had continued to giggle, but stopped when she remembered something important; something that seemed somewhat urgent and related back to her family.

"Ah, before I forget," she cut into their topic of conversation. "I had a talk with my family yesterday. They were so serious, it seemed odd..." Orihime's voice grew to a curious, but concerned mumble as she tried to decipher their words for what seemed to be the hundredth time.

"Really? What about?" Ichigo asked, genuinely intrigued.

She let out another nervous laugh as she brought a hand to her neck in nervousness. "E-Ehe, something about changes and urges? I still don't get what they were saying!"

Frowning, Ichigo was a little stumped as to what her family had talked about as well. Even with the little context, it didn't sound like any normal conversation they held. "Are you sure they weren't talking about, uh, you know... puberty?" Even he didn't think she had to worry about that anymore, given her current body structure.

"They weren't! I asked them that too!" Orihime tried to imitate her aunt's face, looking catty-like as she continued on. "Yoruichi-san said, 'This is much more than just puberty and hormones, Orihime. We're talking much bigger than that.'"

Utterly bewildered, Ichigo wasn't sure what to make of her words just as Orihime wasn't able to. "That is really weird," Ichigo flat-out replied, being truthfully honest. Why her family would be so dead serious about 'urges' or other changes, he had no idea where to start thinking. With her family usually being so upbeat, and usually good about keeping people in the loop, he felt it threw a wrench into things.

"Maybe I'll be able to have another conversation with them soon," she said, fiddling with the handle of her bag. "The pizza man interrupted last night, so we never got to finish." Ichigo did let out a small chuckle at the latter part of her statement.

"Leave it to your family to attend to food before serious discussion," he joked. Orihime smiled back in some amusement. She normally would have laughed and fully agreed with him, but now that her mind wasn't worrying about Ichigo, but now on her family's bizarre conversation, her thoughts were all in a jumble. A nudge to her side from Ichigo had her looking up at him, big gray eyes wide in questioning. "But whatever 'urges' or changes you go through, I'll be there to help you out, okay?"

Orihime's smile grew a little bigger, and warmth in her heart appeared at his kind words. Still, she couldn't help but start to have this foreboding feeling that what was to come was something bigger than both of them would ever imagine.

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	6. Chapter 6

_Hey guys, it's Ritsu again. Sorry this took a bit. I've recently just moved to England to study here for a semester so things were a little crazy. It's hard to write when you're so overwhelmed by everything XD; Anyway, thanks for all the reviews! Here's chapter six. Enjoy~_

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Ichigo woke up that Saturday morning with an initial sense of dread. He blinked, wondering why he felt so reluctant to start the day. Perhaps in the back of his mind, he still feared things would be awkward between Orihime and him. _We'll be fine, _he thought to himself as he rolled out of bed. _We talked it out and we've moved past. Time to get over it._

So why did he feel like nothing had changed?

He wrote it off as leftover paranoia and pushed his doubtful thoughts to the side. Orihime would be hanging out at his house today, in part because they made plans to last weekend, before things got… weird, for a lack of better term. It was also in part to make up for the time they didn't hang out during the week, during the awkwardness that followed their make out session in the nurse's office.

_Don't think about it, _he commanded to himself as he grabbed a towel for the shower. His body was already reacting to it, despite his protests. He could feel himself getting hotter, and liquid heat was starting to pool in his groin.

Fortunately, it was nothing a cold shower couldn't fix. Ichigo took his shower, keeping the temperature down the whole time until his body was under control. He stepped out of the shower and got dressed quickly before heading downstairs for breakfast.

"Good morning, onii-chan!" Yuzu said to him cheerfully as he descended the stairs.

"Hey, Yuzu," he said as he ruffled her hair.

"Good morning my boy!" Isshin said as he pranced out of the medical clinic. For once, he didn't attack Ichigo or "test his skills," so to speak.

Ichigo eyed his father warily, waiting for him to attack him or send a "super Isshin kick" his way. "Morning…" Never taking his eyes off of his father, Ichigo sat down at the table, almost missing the chair as he did so.

"Relaaaaax," Isshin said with an overdramatic eye roll. "You get the day off from my super training. I have to run to the hospital for awhile. Apparently they can't seem to keep enough sexy doctors on staff," he added with a wiggle of his eyebrows. "And last time I went there with a bruise I was treated more than I did any actual treating."

Karin shook her head as she sipped on some juice. "Right. By all of those young, cute nurses you claim are always hitting on you?"

"They do!" Isshin said, his expression crestfallen, though he really wasn't _that _upset. "You don't think your daddy dearest can't attract some hot young-"

"Don't even start," Ichigo interrupted as he shot his dad a glare. "We don't want to hear about your… conquest potential."

Isshin suddenly raised his brow at his son. "What's this? Don't tell me you're jealous?" he said playfully.

Ichigo snorted, dismissing his father's suggestion. "Right. Says the guy who hasn't had a date in years."

Instead of the dramatic bawling Ichigo was expecting, he was met with a rueful smile from Isshin. As his father put on his coat, he gave Ichigo a pat on the shoulder. "Heh. I think you're not quite ready for that explanation yet."

"Ready for what explanation?"

"I need to run before I'm late and Ryuuken chews me out. I'll be home for dinner!" Isshin shouted as he walked out the door. "Don't miss me too much!"

"Oi!" Ichigo hollered after him. "What did you mean?"

But Isshin was gone, leaving Ichigo perplexed as he stared at the door he had just left from. Cursing under his breath, Ichigo looked away as Yuzu set his breakfast in front of him. "Damn old man. Just trying to get in a last dig."

"Probably," Karin agreed. "What's going on today?"

"Orihime's coming up later," Ichigo said as he bit into his toast.

"Really?" Yuzu exclaimed. "I've missed her! For a bit there, I thought you had stopped talking to her."

Ichigo stared hard at his plate, his thoughts turning back to the previous couple days where he hadn't been talking to her. He shrugged it off; Yuzu and Karin _really _didn't need to know about what happened. Next thing he'd know, his dad would find out and that would make his life a living hell for weeks. "No. School just got busy so we didn't have as much time to hang out."

"Oh okay," Yuzu said, buying his lie. "Well, I'll make an extra special lunch for her then."

Nodding at her suggestion, Ichigo dug back into his food, altogether missing the disbelieving stare his other little sister was giving him.

* * *

A few hours later, Orihime knocked on the door. Ichigo opened it and gave her a quick smile. "Hey."

"Hello, Ichigo-kun!" she greeted him with her usual cheer as he let her inside.

"Orihime!" Yuzu beamed as she peered from out of the kitchen. "I was just finishing lunch! Come in and take a seat. I hope you're hungry!"

"I am, actually," Orihime said with a nervous laugh as she looked over at Yuzu. "Thank you, Yuzu-chan."

"Hey," Karin greeted Orihime as she walked in from the living room. "Long time no see. Ichi-nii says things have been busy at school." Though her voice was level, there was a hint of skepticism in it.

Ichigo and Orihime both heard it, as they quickly exchanged glances before Orihime answered, "Um, yeah. We've been doing a lot in our literature class."

Unfortunately, the mention of their literature class only reminded them of their reading of Act I from the other day, which of course reminded them of their embarrassment and a certain unmentionable event in the nurse's office…

Before she could break out into a bright red flush, Orihime hurried over into the kitchen. "A – Ah, Yuzu-chan, do you need any help?"

Ichigo pretended to be busy looking at the ceiling and counting the tiles, refusing to meet Karin's baffled stare. It wasn't until Yuzu cried out from the kitchen that everyone forgot the awkward moment and ran in to see what was wrong.

Yuzu was woefully staring at a package of beans. "These aren't the right ones!" she said with a sniff. "I need bento beans!"

"I can get some," Ichigo offered.

"I'll go with you!" Orihime volunteered, giving Yuzu a smile. "We'll be back soon, okay?"

"Thank you!" Yuzu said as the friends began to head for the door. "I'll make some misou soup for you in the meantime!"

The misou soup would be worth the trip, so Ichigo hurried out alongside of Orihime for the nearest store that carried bento beans. To Ichigo's chagrin, the walk began in awkward silence. It felt like how things were before yesterday, when they talked things out. Desperate to break the tension, he asked, "So, did your aunts ever tell you wanted they wanted to talk to you about? Those changes, I mean?"

"Oh." Orihime stared thoughtfully into the distance. "No, they haven't. I've wanted to ask them but I'm not sure how to approach it. It's just so strange. It's not like them to be so secretive about anything. They usually tell me everything."

"They've never hidden anything from you?" Ichigo asked. He couldn't help but think of what his father had said earlier. What was it with parents and hiding things? As he thought about parents, a thought struck him. "They never told you what happened to your parents, either."

"That's true," Orihime said. "I know they died when I was really young, but they never told me how. I don't know anything about my parents, especially my mother, even though she was my aunts' sister."

_Every family has their secrets, _Ichigo thought as he puzzled over why Orihime's aunts and sister were suddenly being so reticent, at least in regards to these "changes". He was sure his family had its share of secrets, although now that he was seriously considering it, the thought disturbed him. "My dad said something odd today."

"What did he say?"

Ichigo snorted lightly. "Before he went to work, he made some kind of crack about how all the cute nurses at the hospital seem to fawn over him or something." He rolled his eyes at the thought. He really didn't want to consider whether his father was attractive or not in the eyes of women. It would break his brain. "We never believed him. He's never gone on a date since Mom died. I told him that and he said, 'I don't think you're quite ready for that explanation yet'."

Orihime frowned. "That's really odd, especially coming from your dad. It's not like you wouldn't understand if he went on a date, right?"

"I guess. It might bug me a little but you're right, I would get it. I don't think that's what he meant." He shrugged. "He's probably just acting secretive to tick me off. I'm sure it's nothing."

Orihime nodded and didn't comment further, perhaps unsure as to what else to say. Suddenly, she tugged on Ichigo's sleeve. "Ah, I think this store here has beans."

Ichigo turned sharply on his heel before he could pass the store. He nearly stumbled as he did, and Orihime giggled as he straightened himself. "That didn't happen," he muttered as he walked in, causing Orihime to laugh even harder.

Her giggling abruptly stopped when they walked inside. Four tough looking kids about their age stared at them as they came in, though they seemed more interested in Orihime. Ichigo silently urged to her hurry as they made their way down the one aisle. As Orihime scanned the shelves for the beans, Ichigo eyed the punks, watching their every move.

"Found them," Orihime said as she picked up the bag.

"Let's get out of here," Ichigo said as he ushered her to the cashier. He handed the bored looking cashier some money and took Orihime by the elbow. He didn't even bother with putting the beans in a bag; he just grabbed the package and walked out of the store.

As he expected, the four kids followed them out. Ichigo had taken martial arts, so he knew he could fight them off if he had to. He was just worried about what they might be carrying and what might happen to Orihime.

A rising anger swelled in his chest when he felt one of them get close and reach out his hand. Knowing the punk was reaching for Orihime, Ichigo grabbed her arm and pulled her to his side as his other hand snatched out and twisted the kid's wrist.

For a moment, as Ichigo turned and stared at the punk who had made a grab for Orihime, he felt something inside shudder with his anger. He gritted his teeth at the kid and said, "Get lost."

Whatever he felt inside, the kid must have seen in his eyes, for he quickly backed off and went in the opposite direction, his friends following on his heels. Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief and his anger subsided. "Damn assholes."

He glanced down at Orihime, who he still had pulled against his side. "Sorry about that. The one guy was going for you."

"It's okay." She looked up at him, her smile a little shaky. He was sure she had been aware of what had been happening. Orihime could be slightly naïve or over trusting at times, but even she had known the boys' intentions the moment she walked into the store. "That was a little scary, though. I was afraid you'd have to fight them."

"I thought so, too." Ichigo was grateful he didn't have to, even though he would have enjoyed breaking their noses. "Guess they were more bark than bite."

Silence fell between them as Ichigo realized he was _still _holding Orihime and his arm seemed to refuse to move. They stared at each other, neither of them moving even though they knew they should. Orihime bit her lip softly as her head lowered and she stared at Ichigo's chest instead of meeting his gaze. "Orihime…"

She reached up suddenly and rubbed her temple. "My head hurts a bit."

Ichigo frowned in concern. "Do you want to go back inside and get something for it?" The rational part of his brain hoped she would say yes, because it would give him a good reason to let go of her.

"No," Orihime said, her eyes distant as her hand slowly climbed up his chest. "Just stay like this for me," she said, her voice husky.

Ichigo's eyes widened as he remembered the last time her voice sounded like that. He knew they should _not _repeat the incident in the nurse's office, but his body begged for an encore. "I – I think some aspirin would help…"

"Nope," she said, her tone almost playful as her hand wrapped around the back of his neck.

_She was like this the first time, _Ichigo noted, the last bit of logic he could cling to as his mind clouded over. _What's going on? _His reasoning was shut out as he complied with her and bent down until they were eye to eye. His lips hovered over hers before she closed the distance.

For a brief, wonderful moment, his chest swelled as he kissed her, and his fears were quelled by the urge to continue this further. Her tongue pushed against his lips, but just as he opened them for her, they were interrupted.

"Damn kids these days!" an elderly man said as he walked by them. "Can't keep anything in private, can they?"

Ichigo wasn't sure whether he was grateful or not for the interruption, but he knew they needed it. The pair broke apart as soon as the man passed. Orihime's eyes widened in shock as Ichigo took a step back, completely confused as to how this managed to happen again.

"Wha…?" Orihime looked around, her expression dazed. "Did we-"

"I'm sorry," Ichigo blurted out. He leaned his head forward in apology. "I shouldn't have let it happen. You said your head hurt and-"

"My head doesn't hurt," Orihime said, blinking. "I feel fine."

"But you said it did," Ichigo said. "I asked you if you wanted to go inside for aspirin, but you said no. That's sort of how… everything… started."

Orihime clutched her hands tightly as she glanced down at the ground. "Oh no… this is my fault. I can't believe I-"

"We can't start this again." Ichigo shook his head. He didn't want to go another period where they didn't talk. "Let's – why don't we just forget about it and get home? Yuzu's waiting for us."

"R –Right." Orihime nodded, still not meeting his gaze as they turned and walked back towards the clinic.

He may have said to forget about it, but Ichigo knew he wouldn't be able to. Not when his body was clamoring for more. Not when he felt less and less compelled to listen to his reasoning and start listening to his heart. Not when his gut told him that this wasn't going to be the last time. It would happen again, and would they be able to stop themselves next time?

And for that matter, since when did kissing cure headaches?


	7. Chapter 7

_Star-chan here with the next chapter! Things are starting to get good from here on out!_

* * *

Ever since the second kiss between them, Ichigo had been thinking way too much for his own good.

Not only had he been itching to grab Orihime and pull her into his arms again, but he couldn't stop thinking about their past kisses. He contemplated many things, probably questions that were too big to be answered by himself. What was really happening? Why was Orihime acting so odd and kissing him?

More importantly, did that mean they had a chance at maybe being more than friends?

More often than not, Ichigo would find himself wondering about that particular inquiry. It made him blush a few times around his gentle friend, something he'd prefer not to do around her of all people, but it occasionally caused him to imagine and daydream of things he should probably keep out of his head.

Today was such a day, where Ichigo was spending the afternoon with Orihime at her place. They sat alone in her room, with a deck of cards between them, and a handful of the cards in each of their hands. (How Orihime had managed to rope him into playing a measly game of Go Fish, he didn't know. It was probably caused by his short attention span.)

With her tongue sticking out and a thoughtful look on her face, Orihime craned her neck slightly to the left. She stared intently at the cards, before flickering her eyes back to him and asking him her next choice. "Got any threes?"

Wordlessly, Ichigo handed over the two threes he had in his hand, and returned to his thoughts. By staring at his cards, he was fighting off dangerous thoughts, particularly about her tongue. He was just now remembering how she had tried to deepen their last kiss, and her small tongue making its way into his mouth was just plain-

"Ichigo-kun?" Orihime's sweet voice broke him out of his thoughts. He looked up and saw her all doe-eyed, and he swallowed hard.

_Shit, why does she have to look so cute today?_ he thought harshly to himself, soon coughing out a "Got any fives?"

She grinned wide, nearly making his heart flutter (which he would later deny _any_ fluttering if anyone asked), and shook her head. She wore a bit of a mischievous smile. "Go fish!"

Noticing how amused Orihime looked, Ichigo couldn't help but crack a small smile of his own. He grabbed a card from the pile and added it to his hand.

So maybe this was a lame game, but he figured playing with Orihime was entertaining enough. Although just spending time with her like this was enjoyable anyway. They hadn't had a good afternoon to spend together, without worrying about the kissing they've gone though recently.

Well, maybe Orihime hadn't, but Ichigo knew he was thinking about it constantly.

"Um..." she spoke quietly, setting her cards down off to the side. "Are you okay, Ichigo-kun? You seem a little out of it today." Ichigo silently cursed himself, a little peeved that he had so obviously shown his absentmindedness to her. But then again, she probably would've found out anyway. She was way too good at figuring him out.

"Just fine," he replied. "What's your number?" He hoped to deter her attention back to the game at hand.

Orihime scrambled to pick up her cards and quickly blurted out, "Nine!" Ichigo had three of them, and groaned a little upon having to give them all up to her. "You seem thoughtful though." Apparently she didn't want to focus on the game entirely.

"A little, I suppose," Ichigo shrugged as he spoke, and he glanced at his cards again. "Queens?" Orihime handed him one queen and he added it to his collection.

"A penny for your thoughts?" she asked in that soft-spoken voice of hers that gave him a sudden fit of shivers.

_Goddammit, what's wrong with me?_ he wondered, his hand starting to tremble just a little bit.

Ichigo had been considering the option of asking Orihime to date him for a while, due to all their impromptu kissing sessions, and he still wasn't sure if he wanted to ask her, if at all. He imagined things might not leave them so weird if they kissed again, but were still left under the mask of 'friends'.

"They're not all that special," he told her, folding his cards onto the table. Orihime tucked her hair behind her ear and shifted in her spot. Ichigo was busy gazing off to the side in some embarrassment, so he didn't immediately recognize the soft smile and faint blush on her cheeks.

"Any thoughts of yours are important," she told him, causing him to look away even more determinedly. So maybe he could try asking her about the dating thing, but he definitely thought he wouldn't be able to look straight at her while he did it. Ichigo knew she would look at him all big-eyed and curious, and he'd end up blubbering like an idiot.

"W-Well, I guess I've been thinking about..." he started lamely, bringing a hand to his neck. "Us."

"Us?" Orihime asked, her voice so painfully innocent, it made him want to abandon the idea.

"Yeah, us... Um..." Ichigo coughed, clearing his throat before continuing. "I-I'm sure you know, we've been, uh, k-kissing more often than friends usually should..." On the inside, he hated himself a little due to his poor word choice while telling her.

On Orihime's side, she froze upon the word 'kiss', and her thoughts immediately took a turn for the worse. From her perspective, she couldn't help but think that he had wanted to stop being friends because of her kissing him so boldly without reason. Taking in a deep breath, she tried to ignore the slight prickle in her eyes.

"So I had this really stupid idea that, um, we could... you know..." He found himself unable to finish his sentence, and it only frustrated him further. "T-Try some dating, a couple thing, whatever!" Huffing at himself with a heavy blush settling on his face, he folded his arms across his chest in anger.

In his head, he played out multiple scenarios, of which Orihime would reject him. Undeniably, he knew he would feel a little sadness if she said 'no', but it was her decision in the end too, and he had to respect his best friend.

The only thing Ichigo _hadn't_ expected, was a sigh of relief and a watery-sounding, "Thank goodness..." While he wasn't trying to look at her directly, he was definitely now.

"T-Thank goodness...?" he asked in confusion, trying to get a read on her response. "I... I don't understand." But when he got a good look at Orihime's face, she was full of pure relief and happiness, although her eyes had brimmed with tears.

"For a second there, I thought you didn't want to be friends!" she admitted, letting out a weak, nervous laugh. "I'm so glad it wasn't that!" Ichigo found himself taking in a deep breath as he tried to comprehend her words.

"I would never break up with you, Orihime," he told her truthfully, before blushing hotly again. "As friends, I mean!" He paused and felt a little respite upon seeing her pleased expression. "... You know I care about our relationship."

Orihime blushed heavily and it didn't go unnoticed. She seemed just as fidgety as he was, and it only made him more anxious about her answer. "So..." he started slowly, hoping it would have her finish with her answer.

"S-So what do couples usually do?" she blurted out, a silly, nervous smile gracing her face. "We already go to school together and do our homework together, so there's got to be more to it!"

Ichigo was a little dumbfounded, trying to determine if this was her way of saying yes or not. He reached his hand back to his neck again, until he stopped and thought about what he was doing. "T-There's hand-holding, and hugging, I guess..."

Orihime held out her hand sheepishly for him, and at first, Ichigo just stared at it. But a slight motion for him to grab it, and a moment later, he found himself hand-locked with his best friend. Or would it be girlfriend now? From what little thought process he was able to maintain while holding her hand, he made a mental note to ask her about their status.

"Ehe, your hand is so much bigger than mine, Ichigo-kun!" Orihime commented, bemused. Her thumb was inattentively rubbing against his tanned skin, leaving somewhat of a tingle in its wake. Cocking a small smirk, he watched her watching their hands in amusement.

"Does that mean..." he started again. "Does that mean you're okay with trying... us? Together?" Orihime looked up at him and smiled wide, lifting up their conjoined hands for him.

"I think this is a big yes, don't you think?" He had thought it was a yes before, but he was so nervous, he wanted to really make sure. Orihime scooted a little closer to him, pushing away the pile of cards between them off to the side, and shyly watched him with intrigued eyes. "Was there anything else couples do...?" she asked of him, the tone of her voice was purposely teasing, and it made him cock an eyebrow at her behavior. She had already caused temptations long ago, unknowingly, and now he was very much aware of how she was doing it _very _knowingly.

Smirking faintly, he leaned in a little and it made Orihime's face light up a sudden, bright red. "I dunno... I guess we'll just have to find out, won't we?"

* * *

In the first week of their "dating" relationship, Ichigo had explicitly told Orihime she would be the one to decide how fast they wanted to go with things. While blushing, he told her that he would steal kisses from her once in a while, if it was alright, but she was in control of what they'd do and when they would do it.

Surprisingly, Orihime was much bolder than he'd ever seen her before. That is, aside from their previous make-out sessions under their 'friends' title.

She'd initiated more hugs and kisses than he'd thought she would, and even after a three or four weeks into their relationship. While in public and at school, she wouldn't be so outgoing around their friends, but her hand always seemed to be latched onto his, and she didn't really leave his side during lunch and breaks.

While Orihime used to be so close to him before, it was so much different than it used to be, and Ichigo admittedly loved every minute of it. To know she was there for him, with a fondness for him that was different from before, was really reassuring.

Thinking back to the bold Orihime, Ichigo remembered a day where it was Orihime's house they were to go to and study at. Only, they didn't get much studying done. Five, maybe ten minutes tops, into doing their chemistry homework, and they ended up making chemistry of their own.

Orihime had started kissing him with such a fervor that made him blush, and Ichigo did his best to kiss his girlfriend back with just as much enthusiasm. They were both on the floor, with Ichigo on top of her, when they saw Rangiku and Yoruichi poking their heads through the door, so painfully obvious they were interested in what they were doing.

Such a scenario was happening today, and it was Ichigo's turn to have her over at his place. Thankfully, they wouldn't have peeping Rangiku and Yoruichi. Only the possibility of his dad, which could potentially be just as bad as the other two. Either way, Ichigo was glad to have had a lock on his door, which meant no interruptions.

At first, Orihime was very intent on focusing on her algebra homework, gnawing lightly on the end of her pencil as she kept in deep thought. Ichigo had tried to keep focus on his part, but he would repeatedly wonder when she would jump up and jump _him_. Or maybe he was wishing too hard today, the thought passed in his head.

"I-Ichigo-kun..." Orihime mumbled in that low, somewhat sultry tone she had before she was about to kiss him or something of the like. Feeling heat pool in his abdomen and blood rush to his cheeks, Ichigo glanced up at her and raised a brow.

"What's up?" he asked nonchalantly, but on the inside his heart was beating a mile a minute while wondering what she was going to do.

"Don't you think it's a little warm in here...?"her voice was quiet as she collected her hair into one hand, and fanned herself with the other. Ichigo swallowed thickly and was seriously wondering why she hadn't heard his heart beating so loud already.

"N-No, not really..." The stutter he wanted to keep back escaped him anyway. He was flustered before, but upon seeing Orihime's dazed look, he immediately fell into concern. "You okay?"

Instead, Orihime gave him a smile and brought her hand to rest on his, patting it reassuringly. "Just fine. Probably a hot flash, or something!"

Shifting his hand around so he held hers tightly in his, he gave her a weary grin. "I think you need to be a little older for hot flashes." Orihime had opened her mouth to say something, but closed it instead and looked at their hands. She always thought it was an amazing feeling for him to be holding her hand like this. It had been a few weeks already, yet she still couldn't believe they were dating. It was something she had always dreamed of!

Smiling, Orihime leaned into Ichigo's space and gave him a small peck on the cheek. It was meant to be a sweet, innocent gesture, but Ichigo suddenly seemed all too interested in the kiss. She turned a vivid red upon seeing him turn to her with darkened eyes and a cocky smirk.

"I'm sure you know by now what you're getting into..." he warned her, leaning in to press a hard kiss to her lips. He could feel Orihime's lips curl up into a smile, and she released his hand to wrap her arms around his neck.

"I would hope so..." she murmured back, tightening the hug. "It's been a few weeks already." Ichigo growled a little and suddenly picked her up with her arms still laced around him. He slipped his arms beneath her thighs to hold her up, and she squeaked in surprise, but that still didn't break their lip lock. Ichigo stumbled for a moment or so before taking two steps backwards and landing them on his bed, with Orihime on top of his lap.

Pulling away, Orihime looked at him shyly, but still wearing a small, mischievous smile. Ichigo put a hand on the back of her neck and pulled her back down, giving searing hot kisses to her plump lips. The other hand rested on her hip, keeping her firmly where she was at.

While she looked somewhat confident in her actions, there was still an air of doubt and embarrassment with her. Ichigo couldn't tell if it was because of her more innocent nature that she still kept that way, or if it was because of his slowly growing problem potentially frightening her. She _was_ on his lap, after all.

A small grumble of pleasure escaped Ichigo's lips as Orihime slipped her hands underneath his shirt. Her dainty little palms and digits roved over his taut muscles and ripped front side, and every touch of hers drove him mad. Every little caress she gave him made him want to kiss her much harder.

Shifting a little, his slightly strained erection brushed against her thigh and Orihime shuddered, letting her head collapse into the crook of his shoulder and neck. She sighed heavily and her fingernails dragged lightly across Ichigo's skin. It was a different feel than her fingertips, but it was still welcomed regardless, and Ichigo had gasped at the touch.

Before he knew it, the hand that had rested on her hip before had travelled higher and was now grasping her breast. Orihime moaned at the touch, but the sound was muffled by another passionate kiss of his. Ichigo molded and kneaded her breast, starting to feel something poke through the fabric. He had an idea of what it was, and temptation got the best of him when he started to grab at her shirt, attempting to pull or rip it off her in a blind lust. She had him so turned on, it was making him lose what little control he had in the first place.

Quickly popping buttons out of their holes, Ichigo carelessly shoved her shirt off her shoulders and he pressed a trail of hot kisses from her lips down to her neck, and then to her shoulder. He could feel the satin strap of her bra and it made him tremble in excitement.

"Orihime..." he murmured her name, trying to get her shirt off as quick as he could. A loud _rip_ sound resounded through the room, and for a moment, Ichigo wondered if he was actually more forceful with his actions than intended, and inevitably ripped her shirt.

Only when he was about to kiss her further, he was left very cold and painfully aroused. Orihime had shrieked in some horror and before he could catch a decent glimpse of what she was going on about, she was already half out the door with a shredded shirt in hand.

As Orihime slammed the door behind her, her heart raced faster and faster as she raced down the stairs. She was doing her best to keep the remnants of her shirt on her back, paying almost no mind to Isshin, whom was coming into the house at the same moment she was leaving.

"Hey, what's the rush?" he yelled out to her. He received no answer, other than another terrified scream as she ran down street towards the sunset. However, Isshin cocked his head to the side as he saw a hint of black peeking out of the fabric on her back, something that was quite unusual for the girl.

To Orihime, she had no time to answer inquiries or salutations. She didn't even have a solid thought in her head as she ran, clutching the very little fabrics of her shirt. She had to conceal something from anyone that could potentially see it.

She had to hide the black, leathery pair of wings she'd so suddenly sprouted while kissing Ichigo.


	8. Chapter 8

_Another update~ Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Your comments are inspiring. Sometimes you guys and le etoile are the only ones to keep me going when my muse goes "thppppppppppppppbt". I appreciate it immensely. And so, without further ado, here's chapter 8._

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* * *

_

Orihime had always been a happy child. Granted, there had been an incident here and there in primary school when people would make fun of her hair or tease her, but aside from those she had always been happy. That was why it was such a shock to Rangiku to see Orihime burst through the front door in such a state of horror and panic. "Orihime?"

Her little sister was sobbing and clutching her shirt to her chest. It quickly drew the attention of Yoruichi and Unohana, who came in from the kitchen to see what the commotion was about.

Rangiku saw Orihime glance towards the stairs, and she immediately strode over to bar her path. "Orihime, what's wrong?" she said, her voice gentle but stern.

The frightened girl collapsed into a heap on the floor, and it was then, as Orihime was hunched over that she saw what had taken her sister by surprise. Her wings were still tightly folded against her back, a stark contrast to her pale skin.

Rangiku's eyes met Yoruichi and Unohana's, and they all nodded to each other. As Unohana strode to the kitchen to make some tea, Rangiku kneeled in front of her sister. "Shhh. It's all right. Just take some deep breaths and calm down."

"But I – I-"

"I know." Rangiku and Yoruichi managed to get Orihime standing and ushered her to the dining room table. "It's nothing to be alarmed about," Rangiku added as they helped Orihime sit down.

"They're wings!" Orihime was coherent for the first time since the wings had sprouted from her back. She turned to inspect them, hoping that maybe the whole thing was a figment of her imagination. Unfortunately, they were as real as the hand that gently touched them.

"That's normal for us," Yoruichi said.

Orihime stared at her aunt in disbelief. "Us?"

"Looks like it's time," Rangiku said as she took a seat next to her sister.

Yoruichi sat opposite from Rangiku, and Orihime was having a hard time deciding which one to look at. With her hands still clutching her shirt tightly, she said, "Time for what?"

Unohana came back, letting the water boil in the kettle as she sat down. "We had started to explain to you a few weeks ago, but we refrained from telling you everything. We were afraid of frightening you."

"Though it seems that was inevitable," Rangiku said with an apologetic smile. "Orihime, do you remember when we talked to you about those changes you were going to have?"

"Yeah. What-" It hit her like a wrecking ball to the chest. Her jaw dropped as she pointed to her wings. "This is what you meant?"

"That's part of it," Rangiku admitted.

"There's more?"

"Quite a bit more." Yoruichi sighed as she propped her feet up on the table. "We're not like other people."

"Not like… other people…" Orihime repeated the words, feeling the weight of them drop in the pit of her stomach.

"When Mom and Dad died," Rangiku said quietly, "we were given a choice. You could have stayed in our original home and would have found out about this a lot sooner. But…" Her smile was soft, even though her eyes seemed a little sad. Orihime had never seen her sister like this. "We wanted you to have something of a normal life for as long as possible. So we moved here, to live amongst the humans. I'll always be glad we did, and I hope someday you'll be grateful for it too, even if it's going to make life a bit rough for you for awhile."

_Live amongst the humans… _Even in her state of shock, Orihime didn't miss the implication in Rangiku's words. "We're not human?"

Unohana shook her head. "No. We're a special kind of demon."

Upon seeing Orihime's face pale to an unhealthy shade, Yoruichi added, "_Special _kind. We're not the fire and brimstone kind that eats humans or something. We're what humanity has come to call succubae."

The succubus: to Orihime, they were just mythological creatures cooked up by the imagination of people in medieval times. Her knowledge of them was limited. All she knew was that they were demons who sucked the energy of humans through sexual intercourse and that in their true, demonic forms they were hideous looking creatures.

Now she was faced with the grim reality that she was one of these creatures. She didn't know whether to be embarrassed (since her main source of energy would now have to come through _sex _of all things) or to be horrified (she was a demon. A _demon_). She choked out a gasp before covering her mouth with her hand.

"It's gonna be fine," Rangiku said, giving her hand a squeeze. "You'll still be able to have something of a normal life. Once you calmed down a bit, we'll work on teaching you how to hide your wings. You might have to miss a day or two of school until then, but it's a small price to pay."

"I'm sure Ichigo-kun will give you his notes for what you've missed," Unohana said.

Orihime's eyes widened at the mention of Ichigo, whom she had run out on. She glanced at her wings, and her heart sank as she realized that as far as she knew, things were over between her and Ichigo. Even if he did forgive her for just running out like that without a word, what would he say about her wings? Obviously she wasn't normal, not anymore. Would he even want to associate with her after this?

"I'm not sure how much longer Ichigo-kun and I will be…" She grimaced. "Dating. Or even friends. I ran out on him and if he learns the truth…" She suddenly stood up from her seat, her head hung. "I don't even know what to tell him. Right now, I'd just like to rest."

Her sister and aunts nodded, and Orihime excused herself before hurrying up the stairs and into her room. With a sob, she closed the door behind her and sunk to the floor. _How did things get like this? _she asked herself as she tossed her shirt to the side. _I was so happy. I finally… I finally got to be with Ichigo-kun. Now it's ruined._

She tried folding her wings as tightly as she could against her back. A part of her that was steadily becoming angrier wanted to rip off the wings and destroy them. If she could get rid of what made her look like the demon she was, perhaps she'd feel better. But then, she couldn't change what she was inside. Abstaining from sex and everything else that made her a succubus would only result in her death, or something as equally unpleasant, she imagined.

There was a lot she didn't know about herself and what succubae really were, but she knew there would be no going back to how things were. Her relationship with Ichigo was most likely destroyed, and she would never be able to see herself the same again.

_That's the worst part about. I could handle being a succubus, I think. I can live with that. But it's everything else that makes it so bad. _She folded her arms on her knees and buried her face between them. _I'm so sorry, Ichigo-kun._

* * *

Orihime remained in her room, even as dinner time came and passed. Her sister and aunts didn't push her to come down to eat, knowing that food was probably the last thing on her mind. As the skies began to darken, the three women were sprawled out in the living room, working on a hobby or doing some reading. Their activities were suddenly interrupted by loud, hurried pounding on the front door.

"I was wondering when he would show up," Yoruichi murmured as Rangiku got up and answered the door.

Ichigo was panting, most likely having run there all the way from his house. It took him a moment to catch his breath. When he did, he said, "Is Orihime home?"

"She is, but she's a little out of sorts right now. It might be best if you don't see her right now."

"But…" Ichigo nervously shoved his hands into his pockets. "I think something happened at my house earlier. I don't know what, but she left suddenly and…" He hunched his shoulders. "I just, I want to make sure she's all right."

"Ichigo-kun-"

"Let him see her."

Rangiku turned to Yoruichi in surprise. Her aunt's expression was neutral, with only a little frown tugging at her lips that betrayed any sort of emotion. "Do you think he should?"

"He won't believe anything she tells him if he doesn't see her like this." Ignoring Ichigo's look of confusion, she jerked her head towards the stairs. "She's in her room. Just be careful, she's in a bit of a state right now."

"Th – Thank you," Ichigo said as Rangiku let him walk inside. Without further delay, he immediately made for the stairs, barely sparing a glance at Orihime's aunts before he pounded up the stairs.

"Why are you doing this?" Rangiku said in a low voice when Ichigo was out of earshot. "Humans aren't supposed to know."

Yoruichi gave Rangiku a sly smile. "Oh I know. I think we can make an exception with Ichigo-kun, though. Besides…" Her eyes roamed to the ceiling. "I want to see what kind of man he really is on the inside."

Upstairs, Ichigo quietly knocked on Orihime's door. "Orihime? May I come in?"

Inside her room, Orihime's head snapped up in shock. _Why did they let him in? _Her wings were still visible. Even though she had found an old shirt and had torn some holes in it for her wings to fit through, they were still plain as day. "I – Ichigo-kun?"

"Are you okay?"

"Um…" She fidgeted, unsure of how to proceed. She really didn't want him seeing her like this, but then, maybe it was inevitable. Maybe it was best to just get this done and over with, instead of hiding from him. "Come in."

The door slowly opened. There was nothing but darkness from the hallway, and then, stepping out from behind the door, Ichigo peered in cautiously. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know," Orihime answered, for she didn't know how else to answer that question. She curled up into a tighter ball as Ichigo fully entered the room and shut the door behind him.

"If I scared you, I-" Ichigo froze when his eyes fell on her. He seemed paralyzed, unable to move as he tried processing just _what_ he was looking at. "On your back, are those…"

Hiding her face from him, Orihime lifted up a wing. "Yeah."

"How the hell did…"

"When we were… you know, on your bed." Orihime blushed as she remembered his fingers on her skin, inflaming wherever he touched. Every minute detail was coming back to her, from their passionate kisses to the way her body felt like it was on fire and was going to burst at any moment. She almost smiled at the memory when a startled gasp from Ichigo and a peculiar sensation on her head drove her from her thoughts.

Daring to lift up her head, she saw Ichigo staring at her in increased shock. _Is something… on my head? _Something was on it, but Orihime couldn't tell what. Cautiously she patted her head, trying to identify what it was. Her stomach dropped when she felt two little knobs on top of her head. _H – Horns?_

Suddenly, she felt something peculiar and _uncomfortable _growing from her rearend. Her pants were suddenly way too tight for whatever was going on, and without regard to Ichigo's presence in the room, she unbuttoned and threw off her pants before they could rip. Her mouth dropped as a long, black tail snaked out from behind her.

She shrieked as she climbed back on her bed, her sobs coming out in uncontrollable heaves as she covered her face with her hands. As if the wings weren't bad enough, now she had a tail and little horns.

"Orihime…"

"This is what I am." There was no hiding anything from him now, not when her non-humanity was so obvious and out in the open. "I'm not a human. I'm – I'm – I'm some kind of demon or s – something." Her long hair draped over her arms as she tried to hide as much as she could from Ichigo. "A _succubus._"

Ichigo stared at her in shock. He was struggling to say something, _anything. _"A succubus…" It sounded crazy, but then again, Orihime was sprouting wings and a tail and horns. There really was no arguing with her explanation.

_He must think I'm a freak. _Orihime tried fighting the tears that were streaming down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Ichigo-kun. I'm sorry for ruining everything."

She was met with silence, and she expected him to leave shortly once the gravity of the situation sunk in. However, when she heard his footsteps, they were not gradually becoming farther away but _closer _to her.

"What are you talking about?" he asked quietly as he sat on her bed. She could feel his weight pressing next to hers.

Only her confusion was able to override her dread and allow her to lift up her head. Her panicked, red-rimmed eyes met his calm gaze. "I'm not a human. I – I'll always be like this. They said I'll be able to hide these with a bit of practice but there's no changing what I am."

"I know." Ichigo sighed softly as he looked at the far wall. "A succubus, huh. Well, it explains a few things, doesn't it?"

Orihime blinked in surprise. In her shock, she hadn't realized that they finally had the answer in regards to her strange behavior in the nurse's office and outside the mini-mart. "Oh. That's right."

Ichigo turned back to her. "So, once you hide your wings and stuff, the only thing that's gonna really be different is… well, yeah." He blushed slightly at the thought. "You just need to have sex, right?"

"I think so, yeah. There's a lot I don't know yet, but I think that's what I have to do." She was blushing furiously, dipping her face in between her folded arms to hide it from Ichigo. "I just, I don't want to drag you into this."

"You're not dragging me into anything." To Orihime's surprise, she felt his arms enclose her. He carefully maneuvered his arms around her wings, making sure not to yank on them by mistake. "I'm jumping into this willingly. I'm here for you."

For the first time all evening, Orihime felt hope seep in through the dread. She gently hugged him back and said, "You're not… scared?"

"If you mean of you, then no." He gave her a pinch on her rear end, making her squeak. "I don't frighten that easily. And if you mean of the whole situation, well…" Ichigo leaned his head against hers. "I'm apprehensive, only because I have no idea what's going to happen. But that's not going to stop me."

Somehow, to Orihime's sheer astonishment and joy, Ichigo wasn't deterred by her appearance. She sniffled and hugged him tighter. "Thank you, Ichigo-kun."

They stayed there like that for awhile, just sitting quietly in each other's embrace, and for time in hours, Orihime allowed herself to smile and to think that maybe this change, maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.


	9. Chapter 9

_Star here, with your next chapter! I hope you enjoy the hotness~ Also, since** this chapter has some lime** in it, it'll be bumped up to the M rating, just to be safe.  
_

* * *

As expected, Orihime refrained from going to school for a couple days following her sudden transformation. Ichigo had assumed it was due to her wings, and her family was more than likely teaching her how to hide the sudden wings and other new features she now had. He also imagined she needed the few days to let things sink in.

Orihime was a _succubus_, of all things. It still blew his mind, even if he had told her he wasn't scared by her. It was all so alarming, yet he still managed to feign an understanding façade around his girlfriend. It was additionally a little difficult to go to school, knowing all his friends were human, as well as so unknowing of their friend who happened to be the complete opposite.

He had missed Orihime during school, but was thankful to be able to visit her after school. On both occasions when he stopped by, one of her family members had opened the door with a surprised, but at the same time, unhappy look in their eyes. It was almost as if they hadn't wanted him around at the moment, just because Orihime was busy trying to hide her new appendages. The first time he visited her, which wasn't for very long, he saw her completely normal, no wings or tail, until he carefully called out for her, thus breaking her concentration. As soon as she turned to look at him, her cheeks flushed a bright red and she was right back where she started.

Needless to say, Ichigo was cautious to not distract her when he went to see her the few days she stayed home. He hadn't stayed very long either, just so he wouldn't be a burden to Orihime or her family. The loneliness he felt at school had grown just a little bit more knowing he shouldn't see her after school, just until she had her new features under control.

After the couple days she stayed home, Orihime returned to school, but was more hesitant than she'd appeared before. He could see her trying to hide it as they walked to school, but he also could sense she was just nervous about whether she'd be able to concentrate during the school day, both on her lessons and making sure her wings wouldn't pop out for some reason or another.

As he slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close in reassurance, she grew red and her eyes were wide, but a smile graced her lips and she knew with Ichigo around, she could do this.

* * *

It was the middle of sixth period, their math class, when Ichigo was already ready to ditch this place and go somewhere else. Now that Orihime was back at school, his mind had been on her constantly, and he knew she sat kitty-corner to the left of him, by the window. The seat had been empty for the past few days, but Orihime was back and he caught himself assessing her backside many times throughout the day.

The teacher droned on about something with graphs and velocities, but Ichigo was merely tapping his pencil against his desk, his gaze occasionally drifting over to Orihime. It was so boring, this lesson, and he was starting to want something else to distract him, or at least make it more entertaining.

He would come to regret that wish, once he glanced at Orihime again and noticed little knobs growing on her head. The pencil he had in his hand snapped like a twig and he immediately jumped from his seat, alarming the instructor and accidentally gaining the attention of the entire class.

"Was there something else you wanted to add, Kurosaki?" she asked, her tone plainly irritated at his disruption. Orihime had turned to look at him too, and his heart was sent to the pit of his stomach when he saw her horns even more clearly.

"Orihime's not feeling well," he blurted out, causing some gazes to turn towards his girlfriend. She looked at him baffled, and he brought his hand up to his head, to motion to her that she should check hers. She raised her hands to her head and found her little horns had sprouted up, and she gasped in shock.

"She looks fine to me. Now if you will take your seat-"

"P-Please..." Orihime feigned pain, as much as she disliked lying. Her hands on her head to hide the horns only made her story more believable, making the other students think she really did have a headache. "I have such a terrible headache, I-I'm not sure I can walk down to the infirmary without someone else..." She tried to whimper to increase the dramatic effect, but both teens received a blank, unbelieving stare from the teacher.

Sighing, she let them go. "Be quick to bring her down there, Kurosaki." Ichigo nodded and moved from his seat towards Orihime, and acting along, he held her shoulders and 'helped' guide her out of the classroom. Once the door was closed behind them and making sure the hallway was empty, Orihime blushed a bright red.

"W-What's going on...?" she asked in a fervently hushed tone. Tears were brimming her eyes, and Ichigo continued to lead her along, trying to find a place they could hide and determine the situation.

"I thought you've been practicing hiding those," he commented, turning them left down another hall.

"I was! I'd been doing so well too, Ichigo-kun," Orihime told him, her voice laced with nothing but the utmost truth. A storage room piqued Ichigo's interest, and he hustled their pace to reach the luckily unlocked door. He pulled it open, on the watch for other teachers and students while ushering her inside. Once everything was clear, he joined her in the already small closet and locked the door behind him.

Orihime removed her hands from her head and instead brought them to her eyes, trying to rub away threatening tears. Ichigo took the initiative to tentatively touch the horns on her head, now realizing this was the first time he'd touched them. They were slightly cool, definitely not like her body temperature, and hard albeit dulled. A shuddering sigh left his girlfriend, and he stopped his exploring short to instead lace his hands through her hair and pull her close.

"It'll be alright," he told her in reassurance, but he thought it was to assure himself as well. Orihime whimpered in his chest, distressed at what was happening, when she felt a slight tug from her shirt. She snapped away from Ichigo, trying to will herself to hide her wings, but unless she wanted another ripped shirt, she would need to take it off. It seemed as much as she wanted to keep them hidden, her body was betraying her.

After confusing Ichigo and nearly startling him with the unbuttoning of her shirt, she let it fall to the floor carelessly and breathed deeply, feeling her wings stretch and flex with the new room. Her breathing was labored as she wondered what Ichigo was thinking of her now, now standing in front of him in her bra and completely alarming wings. She brought her hands to her eyes again and bowed her head, not knowing what to do.

Ichigo's hand on her wrist, moving her arms to show her face, had her looking up at him with big eyes and red cheeks. He looked plenty embarrassed himself, but he was doing his best to appear earnest about this all.

"Are you okay?" he asked carefully, using his other hand to cup her cheek. She wanted to nod that she was fine, but she was starting to feel really funny and it kept her from doing so.

"I-Ichigo-kun... I-I don't know..." she murmured, her brows furrowing. "I don't know what's going on..." Ichigo slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her in close when he started to notice her tail sneak out from under her skirt. She was going all out and she hadn't even noticed.

An idea hit him, and it made his cheeks grow red. He wanted to ask Orihime about it, but no doubt it would make both of them embarrassed. But considering her situation, standing with her boyfriend shirtless and in her skirt with all her features of a succubus sticking out like a sore thumb in the cramped storage closet, they didn't really have any alternative.

"Orihime, when was the last time you..." he started, blushing hotly. "You know, did _stuff_ to make this go away?" He could feel Orihime's embarrassment due to her hiding into his chest even further.

"N-Not since that afternoon with you..." she confessed, blowing out a sharp breath. "The one where I ran off in the middle of it because of my wings..." Ichigo groaned in some frustration, but was able to determine this could be the reason for her sudden change.

Absentmindedly, he let his hand run over her back, his fingers tingling her bare skin. She gasped lightly, but was secretly not minding his touch. "If succubus need..." Ichigo had to pause for a moment to recollect himself before blurting out the "sex to keep themselves energized or whatever, maybe we need to, um..." Instead of finishing himself, he coughed lightly, and Orihime seemed to catch on, with the sudden nod and dark blush that appeared to extend all the way down to her toes.

As Orihime looked up to him with that gray, doe-eyed expression of hers, he felt himself losing his composition. He definitely didn't want to have their first time in the storage closet at school, so he wondered if there was a way to get her to a manageable point without going all the way.

He was as nervous as heck as he cupped her face, his lips mere inches away from hers as their lids slowly started to close. Orihime closed the distance and kissed him, their exchange starting out slow and sweet. Ichigo tilted his head slightly, moving to kiss her again, but with more fervor the second time around. A staggered breath came from her nose as she nipped at his lower lip, with her hands clenching onto his shirt as if it were her only lifeline.

Threading his fingers through her auburn hair, Ichigo licked at her lower lip, silently requesting entrance. She shyly opened her mouth and his tongue ravaged her, thoroughly taking in her surprisingly delectable taste. In the back of his mind, he felt a little surprised at how Orihime was so aggressive not more than three days ago, and now she suddenly so shy. But this new perspective of hers made him think she was even cuter than before, and he dangerously thought he wanted to corrupt that innocence.

With his hands dropping to her waist again, Ichigo pulled her against him as tightly as he could, leaving little to no room between their heated bodies. Orihime breasts were pushed up against his chest, leaving him with a new mental image he'd never forget. Her palms and digits found themselves in his bright, spiked hair, and her breathing was becoming more staggered. He pulled his lips away from hers and started to string a necklace of light kisses on her. His pants were starting to grow a little tight, much to his irritation, but he tried to focus on getting Orihime calmed down. In the recesses of his mind, he thought it was ironic the only way to get her 'calmed down' was to get her up, making their physical intimacy cross into boundaries they'd had yet to explore.

"Ichigo..." Orihime moaned his name, sending a flash of heat to his groin at the way she said his name. The hands on her waist fell even further to cup her bottom, squeezing it a little as he began to focus on a small spot of skin on her neck. Ichigo alternated between sucking and lightly biting the skin, until it started to show in a small pink spot on her flesh.

Ichigo cracked open a single eye to determine her status, and with her wings still showing, even flapping a little in excitement, he could tell they were far from done. He slid his leg between hers, although she seemed hesitant about it, despite her body's actions showing she was enjoying far too much.

Experimentally, Ichigo nudged his leg upwards, the rough denim of his jeans rubbing against her panties. Orihime gasped noisily and whimpered, instinctually starting to ride his leg. He gave her ass another squeeze as he licked at the newly reddened spot on her neck. Her breathing became heavier, still, and her hands lightly tugged his hair, her body fidgeting and struggling for release.

Murmuring his name in a low, lustful tone, Orihime could feel herself wanting more despite already loving what attention he was giving her. "Please..." she begged, still riding his leg. "Hurry..."

Her soft words snapped something in him and he quickly changed his position by wrapping her leg around his waist. His leg was no longer between hers, but instead his whole lower half was nestled between the apex of her thighs. He pressed his hips against hers, sending her head reeling back and a loud moan to escape her. Ichigo brought his lips to hers to silence any other sounds that would come from her. If they were to be caught by staff or students, they'd never live it down.

He continued to thrust his hips upwards into hers, and the more he met her core, the more he could feel a sense of white-hot heat approaching. It was when Orihime groaned and shook so badly, he'd feared she'd gotten hurt or the like. But a shuddering groan and melting into his arms had him starting to think otherwise, not so much wondering if she was hurt, but if she had just had her first...

Even in his blinded lusted state, he couldn't finish his thought. He held Orihime in his arms and willed himself to calm down. Her desire may have been met, but he wouldn't be such a bad person as to finish himself while with her. He'd not wanted _his_ first orgasm around Orihime to be in the supply closet.

Cracking open a strained eye, Ichigo could see her wings lowering and as if like magic, disappearing right before his eyes. The tail that had been frantically wiggling around before was disappearing too, and it was to only be assumed her horns were doing just the same. He would've checked for those as well, but with his chin resting on her forehead, he was plenty content with staying in this spot. He wasn't sure he could move anyway, and it wasn't just from his still straining problem.

"I... I guess that was it..." Orihime mumbled, still breathless and referring to her lust needing to be quenched in order to hide her appendages. "I... Thank you, Ichigo-kun," her sweet voice was music to his ears, and although weary from their little closet romp, he smiled faintly.

"I told you..." he muttered out weakly, tired and still a little irritated at his still stiffened length that had yet to calm itself down. He had no idea how he'd get home, and even if he'd managed to, he'd probably be in a cold shower for hours. "I'm here for you."

Nodding, Orihime reluctantly pulled away to pick up her previously discarded shirt off the floor. It was then when she noticed his tired looking expression. "Are you alright?" she asked worriedly.

"Of course I am," he replied, trying to stand up to his normal, full-length while trying not to make his problem so obvious. "You're just one hell of a person to make-out with." His teasing had her all red and she lightly beat on his chest with an embarrassed pout. He grinned in amusement and grabbed a hold of her shirt, helping her put it back on. While he was helping with the buttons, the sixth period bell rang, alerting students that the school day was be done. They had to get out of the closet within the next few minutes, or otherwise they'd need to wait all over again until most of the students left.

Orihime stood on her tip-toes to press a chaste kiss to his lips, surprising him. "Why don't you go on straight home, Ichigo-kun? You look like you could use a nap." He opened his mouth to protest, half-wanting to stay with her to do homework per usual, but going over to her house would prove to be incredibly embarrassing if he still had his strained erection by then. "I promise I'll text you later, okay?" Ichigo nodded, taking the option of going home to an ice-cold shower over a day of homework with Orihime. It'd just be one afternoon, and he'd still be able to talk to her later.

Flashing him a quick smile, she slipped out of the supply closet, seeing no one around, which meant a quick escape for her. Ichigo kept to the closet for a moment longer, replaying all that had happened. In his embarrassment and recollection of everything, he only had one word to sum up what had just happened.

"...Damn..."

* * *

Orihime was in a surprisingly good mood when she arrived home, and it was noticed by all the occupants of the house. They even questioned why her little boy-toy (a mortifying nickname Rangiku had started to call Ichigo once they started dating), wasn't around today.

"He was looking a little tired at the end of the day, so I told him he should go home and rest instead," she explained, her smile still bright and apparent on her face. All relatives looked at her in curiosity, all suspicious she was hiding something but refused to tell them what it was. Confused, Orihime looked at all of them. "What?"

"You look..." Yoruichi started, knowing she had a word for what Orihime was, but was at a loss as to what it was.

"Fresh and alive," Rangiku offered as a suggestion. Yoruichi agreed that it was definitely the best way to describe her niece. "I don't think I've seen you so perky in so long, Orihime."

Laughing nervously, Orihime brought a hand to the back of her head and rolled on her heels. "I just had a good day at school!" she explained, basically telling the truth, but omitting just what it was that made her so happy. Remembering what she and Ichigo had done not so long ago made her cheeks red. A snicker came from Yoruichi and Rangiku following Orihime's laugh, and Unohana looked at Orihime bewilderedly.

"Orihime, you..." she started, but was immediately hushed by Rangiku.

"You're looking so horny, Orihime!" Rangiku burst in, her laughter immediately causing Orihime's to die immediately. Her face paled and she immediately threw her hands up into the air, flailing wildly.

"W-What? O-Onee-chan, I'm not horny! I-I swear, I didn't do anything with Ichigo-kun!" she yelled out in embarrassment, but Yoruichi's laughter chimed in right next to Orihime's sister's, making her more mortified than ever.

"No, Orihime, your horns are showing!" she explained, so incredibly amused. Throwing her hands to her head, Orihime cried out that they were wrong. "Someone's been a little busy today!" Yoruichi continued teasing.

Shrieking in defeat, Orihime ran to her room in defeat, her cheeks burning even hotter than they were when she was with Ichigo. Her horns had shown up because she was thinking about Ichigo and their ordeal again. She locked herself up for the few hours following, and Unohana sighed at the two other women. How they could torment their precious family member like they did, she'd never know.


	10. Chapter 10

Ah, sorry this is late! I sort of hit a block with this chapter. Thanks for all the continuous reviews and support, guys. We appreciate it immensely. Without further ado, here's chapter ten.

* * *

They had fallen into a comfortable pattern, Orihime noticed. After about two weeks since she was revealed to be a succubus, she realized that she had grown used to the fact and almost, _almost_ comfortable with it. So had Ichigo, to her immense relief.

_Maybe my life doesn't have to change all that much, _she thought optimistically as she sat down to lunch with Rukia, Renji and Ichigo. The weather was warm, so they opted to eat outside under a nice, isolated tree on the school grounds. With the gentle breeze and the feel of Ichigo's hand in hers, she felt positively triumphant, like at last she had finally won a great battle and she was enjoying the spoils of victory.

Her succubus nature was like living with a disability, she mused as she plopped down on the ground and opened her lunch bag. It was tough but it could be worked around, could be worked _with. _She dared to hope that the worst was over.

"What's for lunch today, Orihime?" Rukia asked her.

"Ah…" Orihime pulled out her lunch and announced, "Bread with honey, leek cuts and…" When she pulled out the final item, she blushed faintly. "Strawberries."

Renji snorted and grinned at Ichigo, who shoved him back in retaliation. "Shut your trap," Ichigo muttered as he stared into his lunch bag. "It's just her sister being sly."

"I think it's rather cute," Rukia said. "And delightfully appropriate. Oh, wipe that glare off your face," she said to Ichigo when he glowered at her. "There are worse ways her sister could be teasing you."

"But I like strawberries," Orihime said as she bit into one.

"Of course you do," Rukia said suggestively with a grin.

"If we're done making puns on my name," Ichigo said with a dark glare, "can we eat lunch?"

He was met with an affirmative silence. Renji and Rukia seemed content to leave him in peace, for now, having done their fair share of teasing for the moment. Minus a few comments made here and there, lunch passed by in relative peace and quiet.

At one point, Orihime looked over and smiled wryly at Ichigo as he finished off his sandwich. She had to give him credit; he'd dealt with a fair amount of teasing the past couple of weeks with a considerable amount of patience on his part. Renji and Rukia had ribbing him ever since he had start dating her. Orihime had been teased, too, but Ichigo bore the brunt of it. Not just from those two, but from their other friends and acquaintances as well. Yet he managed to put up with it and bear it all with his usual scowl.

_He's strong, _she concluded as she continued watching him. _Between the teasing and adjusting to all the changes, a lot of people would have been driven away. But he's still here. _The thought warmed her, and she couldn't help but be in awe – and grateful – to him.

He caught her staring at him. She flushed faintly and smiled. With a half-smile he placed his hand over hers and gently squeezed. She twisted her hand around so that her fingers intertwined. His thumb skimmed over the skin on her hand, leaving it tingling in its wake.

Orihime winced as her head suddenly began to ache and that familiar sense of need began to coil in the pit of her stomach. Unconsciously, her tongue slid out and licked her lips as she opened her eyes and stared at Ichigo. She could also feel her wings begin to push out slightly, and she knew that she needed to get out of there.

To his credit, Ichigo had learned the signs of when Orihime needed to, as he put it, "recharge her batteries." There was little mistaking the darkening of her eyes and the way his body seemed to instinctually react to it. He got to his feet and said, "Guys, I think Orihime needs to get to a bathroom."

Rukia glanced over at them, her brow furrowed in concern. "Are you okay?"

Even through the lust that was starting to cloud her mind again, she managed to say, "Y – Yeah. I think the strawberries were old."

Rukia threw Orihime's remaining lunch into her bag and handed it to her. "Geez, your sister should check the expiration date. Hurry! We'll see you later."

Orihime and Ichigo hastily said their good-byes before they headed towards the door they had used to go outside earlier. Once they were inside and the door shut behind them, Ichigo led Orihime down the hall, his eyes scanning the various doors they passed by. When they walked by a unisex, single bathroom he pulled her in and locked the door behind them.

She was on him the moment the lock clicked. Their lips locked, tongues rolling and pushing against each other as her hands gripped his biceps. The skin seemed to ignite where her fingers dug in, which ironically sent shivers up both their spines.

He groaned against her lips as he pulled her against him. His front brushed against her waist, unabashedly showing how hard he already was. Teasingly but unknowingly, her hips bucked against his. Ichigo had to bite back a moan, his fists clenching in her shirt as their kiss broke apart. "Orihime…"

She pulled them down to the floor. Ichigo watched with drooping eyes as she massaged his scalp at the same time as she positioned his back against the door. She straddled him, her hands running up his chest as she popped open his shirt. He helped her take it off and once it was discarded, he reached up to do the same to her shirt.

To his surprise, she pushed his hands away. She grabbed each of his wrists and pinned them to the wall. She smiled rather wickedly as she bent down to kiss and suck at his neck. She ran her tongue up the side, leaving a wet trail as she reached his earlobe and gently nipped it.

Ichigo tried to free his wrists from her grasp. Orihime held them firmly, though she knew he wasn't trying as hard as he could. She bent down and bit down on his neck in punishment. Ichigo's eyes widened as her teeth dug into his skin, though not enough to puncture it. This time his tone was questioning as he said again, "Orihime."

It felt like something possessed her. Even though she was the one who needed this, she had always let Ichigo take the lead. She wasn't this bold. However, the moment she had gotten her hands on him, her mind went into a frenzy. Instead of answering him, Orihime merely smiled before pushing herself against his hardness, pleased at the loud groan Ichigo let out.

He leaned up and captured her lips again before she could return to suckling on his neck. She squealed against his mouth as he freed one of his hands at last and gave one of her breasts a squeeze. Relenting to his will at last, she let go of his other hand as she wrapped her arms around his neck. His hands, now free, quickly opened up her shirt. He pushed it off, leaving her only in her bra. Panting, he bent down and kissed the top of her breasts, his hands reaching up and squeezing the generous mounds. Her back arched against the feel of his tongue, pushing her breasts further into his hands.

She reached one of her hands back and undid her bra clasp. Ichigo helped her get it off before immediately resuming his previous ministrations. With her bra gone, he was able to take her nipple into his mouth and suck. His other hand continued to massage her other breast, while his free hand roamed down her back until it reached her rear end. He gave it a hard squeeze, making her gasp before he pushed her against his straining member.

"I – Ichigo-kun," she panted as she began pumping her hips, pressing her sex against his as much as she could.

He grunted, bucking his hips in rhythm with hers. They groaned, they panted, they gyrated, they kissed again and again until Orihime's vision went white and her body shook from the orgasm. She collapsed against Ichigo, her breathing labored as his jerking hips came to a stop, even though he was still hard and unreleased beneath her.

Normally, Orihime would have been sated. These little rituals always worked to quench her need before. Yet as she lifted her head and stared at Ichigo, she found it wasn't enough. The headache was gone, yes, but she still felt the need within her, hot and tight in her stomach.

"I need…"

"What is it?" Ichigo asked, ignoring the painful bulge in his pants for the moment. "Orihime?"

"More," she groaned as she opened his pants. "I need more." She pulled his unzippered pants down until his penis was free from its confines. Ichigo's eyes widened as her hand snaked in and pulled down his boxers, fully revealing his arousal.

"Ori-" He was cut off when her lips pressed against his, silencing any protests. Her tongue rolled against his and traced the inside of his mouth as she lowered Ichigo to the floor.

Her human, rational side was screaming that this was too much, too soon. What if they weren't ready? And did she really want to do this _here _of all places, inside a bathroom? However, her protests went ignored by her demonic side as she reached down and grabbed Ichigo's length and began pumping.

His hips bucked violently into her hand as he moaned inside her mouth. Instinctively, he pulled her hips closer to his, desperately wanting to enter her even though they both knew better.

She began to lower herself to him, releasing his length to push aside her panties. _Just a little more, _she thought through the lust-laden fog in her mind. His tip brushed her underwear, and she could see Ichigo panting heavily as she readied to lower herself onto him.

Maybe it was divine intervention, or just sheer dumb luck, (or maybe even impeccable timing), but before they could continue, the bell signaling the end of lunch pealed. The sudden sound made Orihime jerk back, away from Ichigo. They both stared at each other, wide-eyed as they realized what they had almost done.

"I…" Orihime shook her head. "I don't know what happened. I just… I needed more."

Ichigo slowly sat up. "You mean…" He scratched his head, unsure as to how to continue. "I know you went three days since our last… romp," he said with a faint blush. "It's about a day longer than you usually go, so maybe that's why?"

She nodded, gulping at the thought. "I don't know. I mean, I guess that might have something to do with it, but…" She had a bad feeling about this. It seemed like another talk with her family was needed. "I'm okay for now, though. The headache's gone and I don't think anything will happen."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." She glanced down, finding that he was still as hard as before. "Ah, but you're not," she added with a blush.

He looked away sheepishly. "I'll be fine in a few minutes."

Before he could get up, she gripped his shaft in her hands. He bucked into them, even as he said, "What are you-"

She put a finger to his lips. She smiled as she began to run her hand up and down his length. "You gave me what I needed," she said, "so it's only fair I do the same, right?"

Whatever protest was forming died when she gave his sex an extra firm squeeze. His words died before they could even form as he leaned back and nodded, letting her give him what he needed.

* * *

"Onee-chan?" Orihime called out when she came home.

Her sister popped her head over the top of the couch, smiling to her little sister. "Hey! How was school?"

"Um, all right," Orihime said as she set her bag down. "I need to talk to you about something, though."

"Oh?" Rangiku got up from the sofa, stretching her arms and back as she walked over to Orihime. "What is it?"

"It's about…" Orihime blushed brightly, her hands fidgeting with each other as she stared at the ground. "Well, it's about, you know…"

"Ahhh." Rangiku nodded in understanding. "Did something happen?"

"It's more like something that _didn't _happen."

Rangiku raised an eyebrow. "What? Weren't you able to come? It happens sometimes; it's only natural-"

"No no no!" Orihime squeaked in mortification as she waved her hands in front of her. "Nothing like that! I just… well, up until now, Ichigo-kun and I have only been… um, sort of not doing _that_."

Her sister leaned against the wall, her arms crossed casually. "You've only been fooling around. Has that been enough for you?"

Although the terminology made her cheeks redden more, Orihime nodded. "It was, at least until today. When we were… fooling around, after it was done I didn't feel…" She wondered when she would ever stop being so embarrassed about this. "Satisfied," she finished with a nervous sigh. "And I tried taking it further, even though I knew I shouldn't."

"Orihime." Rangiku placed her hand on her cheek, smiling comfortingly. "If you had, it would have been okay. It's different for you. You really _need _it. I'm sure Ichigo would have understood."

Orihime might have argued against that, since she really hadn't given Ichigo a choice at the time. She had seduced him and weakened his defenses. However, it shamed her to think about it and she certainly didn't want to reveal that to her sister. "I know. I just don't want my first time to be in a bathroom."

"I don't blame you," Rangiku said with a laugh.

"But…" Orihime glanced over her sister's shoulder, unable to meet her gaze. "It's going to happen eventually, right? I know it sounds silly, being a succubus and all, but…" She chewed softly on her bottom lip. "I was able to push it off until now. Now it's inevitable."

Rangiku moved her head until it was directly in Orihime's gaze. "Hey, it'll be all right. It's a wonderful experience, I promise you. But yes," she added with a sigh. "Fooling around isn't going to be enough anymore. I'm sort of impressed you got by on it this far."

"So, the next time Ichigo-kun and I have to... recharge my batteries," she said with a slight giggle, borrowing her boyfriend's phrase, "we'll have to take it farther?"

"Most likely, yes."

A thick silence hung between them for a moment as Orihime digested her words. As Ichigo had said earlier, she seemed to need to "recharge" every couple of days. So that meant in a few days' time they would…

She covered her hands with her face in embarrassment. "Oh my – it's just…"

"Which is why," Rangiku began, patting Orihime's shoulder, "I need to show you the tricks of the trade!"

The tension dissipated in an instant as Orihime dropped her hands and gaped at her sister. "Wh – What?"

"Tips!" Rangiku explained with a wink. "How to please a man! Now, a man's biggest weakness is of course his-"

"O – O – Onee-chan!" Orihime screeched as she covered her ears. "I don't need to hear this!"

"Hmmm." Rangiku tapped her chin with her index finger. "True, I'm sure you already know the basics. However, if you _really _want to drive him wild, you gotta work with the folds of the tip and-"

She just wanted to crawl into a hole and _die _at that moment. Orihime shook her head violently, wishing for her sister to stop.

"And of course, there's nothing a tongue can't do better. Fingers are great, but tongues are the _best._"

As Orihime tried to drown out her sister's sincere but mortifying advice, she knew one thing was for certain: the comfortable pattern they had fallen into was about to be disrupted.


	11. Chapter 11

_This is Star! Sorry for the extremely long update, but I got really busy and/or sick for a while, so this update is long due. I hope you enjoy it, and thank you for all your reviews and hits!_

* * *

Orihime had bounded up the stairs not fifteen minutes before to go to bed. In the living room sat her relatives, two of them looking concerned while the other looked unfazed. Rangiku, whom was a little more anxious in appearance, sat next to Yoruichi. Rangiku opened her mouth to speak, her eyes downcast to the floor, but instead she closed her mouth and sighed instead, opting to rest her chin on her hand. "What are we going to do?" she murmured, obviously in a more downhearted state now than when Orihime was around fifteen minutes ago.

"We tell her, plain and simple," urged Yoruichi as she folded her arms under her chest. She was the only one in the room that looked detached about their current discussion. "Why would you think it would be any different?"

"I know I've dealt with my fair share as a succubus, but for some reason, I don't want Orihime going through the same," Rangiku replied, glancing up to her other aunt, Retsu. "She's so happy right now, and I feel if we tell her, we'll take away her happiness."

Yoruichi sighed and cut in before Retsu could make a comment. "It's because she's your sister. Ever since your parents died, you've naturally taken over a more protective role." Pausing, she also glanced over at Retsu with a questioning eye. "But both of them would never approve of you hiding this from their daughter. As a succubus, she has the right to know, especially if she's going to run into this problem again later in life. And I'll tell you now, Rangiku, she _will._"

"I believe," Retsu jumped into the conversation, her tone calm, but an edge of disappointment seeping into her words. "It is necessary to tell her, but you should ease her into the topic. I would prefer not to see my niece cry."

"I don't want to see her cry either," Yoruichi quipped again. "I'm not trying to be a bad guy here, but you both know there is no avoiding this. We _will _tell her."

A hushed quiet fell upon them all, a silent understanding that they should indeed talk to Orihime. But deep down, even though she had a right to know, they didn't want her to know so soon.

* * *

A few days later, Orihime and Ichigo walked down the sidewalk, hand-in-hand and bent on going to her house to work on their homework. They looked genuinely happy as they were together, especially in Ichigo when he carried himself around her. Even their friends agreed he had become a happier person after starting to date Orihime.

"I think you've been getting better at holding back your..." Ichigo mentioned as they rounded the corner to Orihime's street, but trailed off before finishing. Since they were outside and in public, what he was talking about couldn't be said so freely. "You know..." It was clear what he was referencing when she nodded in return and smiled.

"I think so too! Now that I've practiced hiding them for the days we don't..." Just the same, she trailed off and blushed. Knowing that thinking about their fooling around from before could make her lose her concentration, she tried to continue on and change her wording. "I-It's really not too bad to work with at all."

Ichigo squeezed her hand in understanding, starting to see the familiar house come into view. "... Do you ever wish we could take things slower?" he asked in quiet curiosity, the volume of his voice lowering significantly. Orihime stopped in her tracks with both of them no more than a few feet away from her front door upon hearing his inquiry.

The small smile she had earlier melted away and she looked a little distraught. "I would like to, but..." In a split second, that expression of anxiousness disappeared and a forced smile was replaced instead. "I'm so sorry, Ichigo-kun. Because of what I am, I'm making everything all wrong by forcing you to go so quickly."

Ichigo pulled her into a tight hug with one arm and grumbled. "Don't you_ ever_ apologize for who or what you are. You wouldn't be Orihime if you weren't." Orihime sniffled a little as she laced her arms around his midsection. "I know what I'm getting into and it's okay." _Sort of, _he finished in his head.

Pulling away from their embrace, she nodded and gave him a real smile. How she was so lucky to have Ichigo as a boyfriend, she'd never know. She was even lucky to have him as a best friend for so long. Despite the hardships suddenly thrust upon them, having Ichigo around was definitely a great thing in her life.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I have a lot of studying to do! We have the mock entrance exams coming up in a few weeks and we should probably get started," Orihime chirped, her mood noticeably better (_thankfully_, Ichigo thought). She turned to go to the door when Ichigo's hand slipped around her waist, inevitably tickling her just a tad bit and making her giggle.

"And how do I know our study session won't turn into what it usually is?" he murmured into her ear as she reached for the door handle. "If I recall right, most of our homework sessions end with us on a bed or the floor."

Orihime blushed hard and swung the door open, unable to keep an embarrassed grin off her face. "It's different this time! We have an important test coming up and-" She found herself stopping when the door was opened to her aunts and sister all at the kitchen table, looking quite serious the moment she came in. "Onee-chan?" she asked slowly, a little concerned.

Rangiku stood from her seat with a smile plastered on her face. "Welcome home, Orihime. How was school?"

"It was fine," she replied, sneaking a glance at the rest of her family members. They all looked so serious; it was starting to worry Orihime. Ichigo sensed her churning anxiety and slipped his hand from her waist to her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze that whatever was going on, he was there for her too. "Is everything alright?" she inquired, her voice lowered and strained with worry.

"Of course it is! Why wouldn't it be?" Rangiku replied nonchalantly, waving her hand as if to dismiss the problem. "Ichigo-kun, it's good to see you yet again! Has my darling little sister had any problems today?"

Unsure of how Rangiku was referring to 'problems', he snuck a quick glance at Orihime whom instantly blushed brightly out of embarrassment. If she meant the succubus problems, they had yet to have any problems today, but Orihime did accidentally fall down a few stairs after lunch. He didn't know whether or not to consider that a problem though.

"None whatsoever, Rangiku-san," he replied, still holding onto Orihime's hand. He glanced back at the other two family members that sat at the table, still having nothing to say. "Thank you for your hospitality." He told them, trying to put on somewhat of a good-boy act since all seemed a little suspicious, but mainly to keep Orihime feeling a little better knowing he wouldn't jump at them and demand what was going on because they were making her so upset.

Yoruichi nodded towards Ichigo while Retsu stood from her seat, presumably to make tea. Ichigo felt a slight tug from Orihime's hand, silently urging him to come with her upstairs. He followed in pursuit and they were soon safely behind the closed door of Orihime's room.

Still looking baffled, Orihime dropped her book bag by the door of her closet and sighed. "Ichigo-kun, am I a bad person to think something was wrong downstairs?" Ichigo did just the same with one hand and was unbuttoning his shirt a few notches with the other. The weather was causing him to grow warm.

With his lips set into a grim, straight line, he shook his head. "No, something was up. Your sister seemed kind of okay, but Yoruichi-san normally has a few words for us when we get through the door." From his words, she seemed to grow a little bit more distressed and she sat herself down on her bed, hands folded tightly into her lap.

The last thing he wanted was for Orihime to be distraught, and whatever was going on, if anything, it was clearly bothering her. He took a seat next to her and slung an arm around her slender waist. "But I wouldn't worry about it. If it's that important, they'd tell you, don't you think?"

In Orihime's head, she thought back about how they were keeping her succubus nature hidden for so long and that was considered pretty important. Still, she had to trust her family because they were the only relatives she had.

Finding a way to smile, she leaned her weight onto Ichigo's body and rested her head on his shoulder. "You're right. Everything's probably fine." Ichigo couldn't help but smile in return before pressing a quick peck to the top of her head.

The two sat in silence, in each other's arms for a few moments before Orihime pulled away and raised her hand to pull away at a few buttons on her shirt as well. "Um, is it alright if I change before we get started on homework? I-It's been so unusually warm today, I feel like I've been burning alive in my clothes." Unlike Ichigo, Orihime wore a long-sleeved shirt and long skirt today, due to the chilly morning. It was odd that the weather got so warm so quickly after that.

"Yeah, sure," Ichigo quickly agreed. "I'll just step outside for a quick moment." He had turned to leave when Orihime pulled on the back of his shirt, keeping him there.

"I-it's okay..." her voice had fallen to a low whisper. "Y-You've seen more before anyway..." A small heat rose to his cheeks as he turned to face her once more. She was acting in some mixture of extremely shy and bold, and he honestly found it really cute. Maybe even so much as a turn-on.

Nodding dumbly, Ichigo just stood there as Orihime went to her closet and pulled it open, assessing her wardrobe before peeling off her top; far too slowly, Ichigo thought. He felt like her creamy skin, bare, sans for her slightly lacy pink bra, was beckoning to him. Things only seemed to get worse for Ichigo as she unzipped her skirt and let it fall down and pool around her feet. His heart was racing even though she was just changing. It made him wonder if she was feeling just as nervous as he was.

Ichigo couldn't help but stare at her back, noticing two slightly darker spots on her fair skin around her shoulder blade area, a bit red in color. It wasn't really noticeable unless you really looked, but it made Ichigo wonder. Were those the spots her wings were supposed to be? He hadn't really paid super close attention to it before.

Stepping closer out of curiosity, Ichigo's feet padded their way to the partially stripped girl, and when there, he tentatively touched those spots with the faintest touch of his fingers. She instinctually jumped in surprise and turned around with beet red cheeks.

"I-Is something the matter, Ichigo-kun?" she inquired, stuttering as she now faced him with only her underwear. She also was just as nervous as she was, but since he touched her back and she was now facing him, she wasn't able to hide it very well anymore.

The turn-around wasn't expected at all by Ichigo, so to see Orihime's partially-clad front side made him sport his own blush. He was a little tongue-tied for words as he tried to reply to his girlfriend.

"N-No, I was just, uh, checking out your back," he told her the truth, despite it having a hint of embarrassment to the admission. He was growing curious about her head now, wondering if she had those same marks where her horns and tail where supposed to be. His blush started to melt away as he grew only more curious. "Just wondering, but... Does it ever hurt to bring out your wings and stuff?" Obviously, the idea of her hurting every time she unleashed her succubus-specific appendages didn't sit well in his stomach, so he wanted to ask.

Orihime shook her head in the negative and patted her head for a moment, thinking her horns had started to show by the way Ichigo was staring so intently at it. "Not at all. It feels kind of odd, unexplainable really, but it doesn't hurt." Pausing, she looked at the floor before looking at him and lowering her voice. "Did you want to see?"

He nodded, an inquisitive expression on his face as Orihime closed her eyes for a short moment, her brows furrowing ever so slightly. It normally took concentration to hold them back, but it could also be difficult to let go of everything mentally and just let them come out too.

First, her wings grew, starting somewhat closed off and small before stretching out to their full wingspan. Orihime's horns grew next, and while they weren't entirely noticeable because of her hair, growth could still be seen a bit. The tail snaked its way out as if it was there the entire time, wriggling around as if it had a mind of its own. It kind of reminded Ichigo of a cat's tail as it swayed back and forth in what appeared to be its own curiosity.

"Wow..." Ichigo blew out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding, but that single word alone had Orihime stepping back and retreating ever so slightly. She must've thought he thought they were gross or disgusting by the way she held herself and with her body language. "No, its okay," he quickly reassured her, resting a hand on her bare shoulder. "I've just never looked at them in this sort of situation before. Any other time, we've been..." he couldn't help the heat in his cheeks. "Preoccupied," he finished, his word choice definitely unusual.

Again, Orihime felt that warmth in the pit of her stomach. It definitely wasn't that feeling of need and desire she felt when she needed to 'recharge her batteries', but rather, it was a feeling of inhibited love. He was always so concerned about her and had always been by her side. For a second time today, she felt so incredibly lucky to have Ichigo, and he was never something she took for granted.

She stepped closer to him and quickly wrapped her arms around his midsection. At this point, she didn't care about her state of dress or how her wings were hindering a proper hug. She just wanted to embrace the man she loved the most.

The hug was definitely most unexpected, but Ichigo had no problem accepting it and slinging his arms around her shoulders, pulling her in as close as he could get. He rested his head on the top of hers, uncaring of how one of her horns was poking into his cheek. Having her in his arms was all he wanted.

He was still learning more about her, but Ichigo decided this was definitely something he could get used to.

* * *

There was a slight, unconscious bounce in Ichigo's step as he came through the door of his home. He was coming in a little later than he normally had, but it was well worth it. Aside from getting some studying done (something Orihime felt quite proud about finally being able to do), they had just talked and enjoyed each other's company just because they could. Ichigo felt happy because they managed to be intimate without doing anything physical. It was a nice change.

As Ichigo turned the corner into the kitchen, he spotted his dad sitting at the table, surprisingly solemn. Glancing up from whatever it was he was looking at, he grinned for Ichigo. "You're sure home late. What's got you in a good mood?"

"It's nothing," Ichigo retorted hotly, not wanting his happiness to be apparent to his father of all people. The small, stupid grin he had on before he immediately changed to his usual scowl. He knew he would just get teased about it if he knew about why he was so bemused.

"Let me guess. With Orihime-chan again?"

The bright blush on Ichigo's face told it all, but at that point, he was even unsure of himself whether he was hot because of embarrassment or anger. "So what if I was? It's not like going to her house is an unusual occurrence anyway!" Ichigo hissed, folding his arms across his chest defensively.

Isshin waved his hand nonchalantly at his son, sneering at his embarrassment. "No need to get all huffy! It was just an innocent question."

"Innocent question, my ass..." Ichigo cursed under his breath, knowing all too well his father just loved to tease him about his life. When he and Orihime were just friends, he'd get crap from his old man about their supposed babies when they got older. Ichigo could only imagine the verbal abuse from Isshin would be exponentially worse if he found out they were dating. He'd purposely avoided telling him for exactly that reason, despite Orihime's inquiries about whether or not he knew.

"Sit down, Ichigo," Isshin ushered him to the seat at the table. He was suspicious to sit down, but he did so anyway with a wary eye on his father. He also noticed, as he took a seat, Isshin was looking at an old photo album with pictures of his mother. For some reason, that suddenly left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth, to see those photos.

"I understand what you're going through, son," he started, flipping through another page of the album. "When I was your age, Masaki and I would have the best times when we were together." Isshin snickered and grinned at Ichigo. "I remember this wonderfully hot time when it involved a lawn mower and a-"

Even if his father was kidding, Ichigo slammed his hands on the table in extreme embarrassment. "D-Dad, I don't want to hear about how you and mom..." He trailed off, his face border-lining purple from the anger and frustration.

"I'm just saying she was a wonderful woman and there isn't a day in the world when I don't think about her." Despite his teasing, a hint of seriousness settled in Isshin's voice as he spoke. "Nowadays, I think about how I probably took our time for granted, but I never let myself forget those important memories anyway."

Ichigo shifted in his seat uncomfortably, mostly due to him being unsure of where this conversation was going. It certainly didn't start out well, with the teasing and inappropriate references, and while he didn't mind talking about his mother too much, he didn't know what to make of his father's words. "You're scaring the shit out of me with all this creepy philosophical talk, Dad," Ichigo blanched, his brows furrowing together and his scowl tightening up.

"I've just gotten sappy after looking at all these pictures," Isshin explained, tapping a hand on a particular photo of Masaki wearing the biggest smile Ichigo had ever seen from her. "But it's reminded me that I wanted to tell you not to do the same thing with Orihime-chan."

Puzzled, Ichigo's muscles tensed slightly. "Do what?"

"Take advantage of the time you have. I'm not saying anything will happen, but if you really care for her, you'll make the most of everything you two do just because you can." Isshin leaned back in his chair and sighed heavily. "Boy, I do sound weird, don't I?"

Ichigo probably nodded too quickly in return, but all this talk about love struck him as odd. Perhaps he wouldn't have trouble talking about this with Orihime, as embarrassing as it could be, speaking with his dad about the matter was much more different. "You always do."

Grinning from ear to ear, Isshin sat back into his previous position and elbowed his son in the side. "So how are things going with Orihime-chan anyhow?"

"Fine..." Ichigo found himself spouting out too quickly. Isshin smiled at his son's naivety and pestered him some more.

"She sure is a special girl," he commented, startling Ichigo for a short moment. He thought he was referring to her succubus-nature when he said 'special', but by the still blissfully unaware look on his face, he figured he probably didn't mean anything else by that. Demonic creature or not, Orihime was indeed a special girl with a big heart. "I very much approve of you two dating."

Ichigo blasted up from the seat of his chair, heart pounding a mile a minute. How had he known? Orihime's family knew, obviously because it was necessary to her cause, but for his father to know, it was definitely not needed. "H-How in the world-"

"Keep your voice down!" Isshin shushed him, his tone quieter even as he hissed at Ichigo. "Yuzu and Karin are sleeping!"

Frazzled, Ichigo willed himself to sit back down and take a deep breath. His heart was racing and it made his head spin. Sure, worse things had happened to him lately, but his dad knowing about all this wasn't exactly a pleasing thing to hear.

"Orihime-chan's always looked at you a certain way, Ichigo, and it wasn't just because you were friends. I just can't believe you haven't noticed it before," he explained, closing up his photo album. He even looked a little exasperated by Ichigo's previous density concerning girls. "But it's only been recently when I noticed you looking at her the same way when she comes over. It's like a reciprocated kind of thing." Just then, Isshin grinned and folded his arms across his chest. "Anyway, like I said, don't take things for granted. You'll want to kick yourself in the ass later if you do."

Despite Isshin's surprising words and feeling a little wigged out by them, Ichigo felt an odd feeling settling over him, sort of like he was actually considering his father's suggestions and would go through with them with the utmost drive. Shrugging, Ichigo stood back up and grabbed his book bag that had been previously dropped and forgotten on the floor. "I'm sure nothing will happen," he replied, his tone not as harsh as he thought it would be. "But... Thanks for the advice anyway."

Isshin slapped Ichigo on the back, quite hard he may add, and nodded gruffly. "You're growing up to be quite a good man, Ichigo, just like me."

"I'm not like you, Dad," Ichigo replied, the thought of being Kurosaki Isshin a small fit of shivers. He didn't want to admit to being like the crazy thing he called his father; at least not entirely. Ichigo turned to leave the room and was just barely out of the kitchen when he heard his father talking to himself in return.

"Yes, you are," Isshin chuckled faintly. "More than you'll ever know."


	12. Chapter 12

_Ack, sorry everyone! I know this is super late. Feel free to throw tomatoes at me. I hope everyone's been enjoying the story so far, even with sometimes late updates. Thanks for all the reviews, and enjoy Chapter 12!_

* * *

Her aunts' and sister's strange behavior still troubled Orihime, but she resolutely pushed her worries aside the next day as she walked to school. Ichigo was right; if something was wrong, they would tell her. Granted, they hid her true nature from her until recently, but that was so she could lead a normal life, at least for awhile. Their intentions had always been good, and she didn't doubt them now.

Still, it didn't help much with the worry.

_It'll be fine, _she thought to herself as she walked down the sidewalk, her school shoes clopping against the concrete. _Even if something did happen or something has come up, I'll get through it. I have Ichigo-kun and we've handled things well so far. _

"Orihime?"

"Ah!" she yelled, completely caught off guard in the midst of her pondering. She nearly threw her satchel into the air as she turned around to face the source of the voice. Her eyes wide, they blinked when they met Ichigo's bemused stare. "I – Ichigo-kun?"

"You okay?" he asked, frowning at her in concern.

"Yeah, sorry." She smiled apologetically. "I didn't realize I had been that lost in thought. I didn't hear or see you coming."

"Apparently not," he said, his voice faintly teasing as he walked up to her. "Got something on your mind?"

There was no point in lying, not after she nearly admitted she had been thinking over something. "Just about my aunts," she admitted as they began walking together, hand in hand.

"You still worried they're hiding something?" Ichigo asked.

Orihime nodded. "I know I'm probably worried about nothing, but…" Her frown deepened as she stared at the ground. "It's not like they haven't hidden things from me before-"

"It wasn't like that, though. Weren't they just trying to let you be a normal girl for as long as they could?"

Orihime smiled in amusement; sometimes it was funny how similarly she and Ichigo thought. "Yeah, I know. I don't begrudge them that. It's just that – I know now they're capable of hiding things from me. And I feel like they are again."

Ichigo was silent. Instead of responding, he stared straight ahead, his brow furrowed in thought as the high school loomed in the distance. After a long minute of silence, he said, "I don't know. You can always just ask them."

"Maybe…" Orihime nodded, her resolve forming. "Maybe I will. You're right. It can't hurt to ask, at least." Still, that left Orihime with the task of figuring out just how to approach her aunts. It didn't help that she didn't know what was bothering them, or if something was bothering them at all. The fact that this entire thing could just be all in her head didn't give her much confidence, and her confidence was low enough as it was.

To make matters worse, her new dilemma was stressing her out, and the added stress was straining her control over her demonic appendages. She could feel her wings threaten to pop out, and she had to literally stop and concentrate to regain control.

Obviously, Ichigo noticed this and watched as Orihime struggled. When she finally succeeded and looked up at him, he said, "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah," Orihime said with a forced smile. "Just getting things under control."

This only deepened Ichigo's frown. "Your energy's low," he stated. He'd become adept at recognizing when Orihime's "batteries" needed to be "recharged". Her mood would shift when her energy ran low, and he could tell that she had to work twice as hard to keep her demonic facets hidden. He gave her a small smile and added, "Looks like it's another trip to the janitor's closet today."

"No," Orihime said resolutely, gripping her fist in determination. "I'm going to fight it and get through the day without it. I shouldn't need a recharge until tomorrow."

"Orihime-"

"Come on," she said, pulling him along as she hurried towards the school. "I can do this. It'll… It'll be easy!"

* * *

Her resolution lasted… for about five hours. By lunchtime, her energy was so low that all it took was a knowing look from Ichigo before she shoved him into the closet and "recharged".

Their little romp in the closet was no different than what they usually did, but Orihime could begin to sense that pretty soon, these romps would not suffice. Each time they finished, she felt slightly less recharged than the previous time. It wasn't from lack of effort on Ichigo's or her part, but rather the result of the inevitable, that Orihime would eventually need sex in order to recharge. But for now, she wanted to enjoy their time together without taking that next step. She planned on doing so for as long as she could get away with it. Sex would come into the picture, and soon, but it didn't have to be now.

As they stepped out of the janitor's closet, their hair and clothes in order, Orihime briefly wondered if this was how a crack addict felt after taking a hit. She certainly felt like one at times.

Ichigo nudged her with his elbow, drawing her attention. "You feeling better?" he asked.

"Yeah," she answered with a blush. "I guess the stress about my aunts and figuring out how to approach them was just draining me." She laughed and added, "I'm just overthinking it. I mean, it's not that hard to just walk up to them and say, 'What are you hiding from me?'" Orihime paused thoughtfully, her brow puckered. "Actually, that sounds kind of mean."

Ichigo reached over and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "It's not mean," he said, "it's direct. There's a difference."

Orihime nodded. When the silence hung between them for a moment too long, Orihime suddenly leaned against Ichigo and said, "I'm sorry. I wish you didn't have to get dragged into this."

"Hey," he chided lightly, pulling her close. "It was my choice, remember? Besides…" He blushed faintly, looking away as he continued, "It's not like I'm exactly _suffering_. I mean, it could be way worse."

"Hm?"

"I dunno." He shrugged before adding, "You could be… a vampire, I guess. That would suck."

Partly from pent up stress, but mainly from amusement, Orihime broke out into a fit of giggles. "A – A vampire?" she said in between laughs.

"Considering what you are, it's not _that _improbable," Ichigo said dryly. "And it would be a lot worse for me if you were."

"I know!" she said as her laughter finally subsided. "I agree completely. I just can't believe you said that." She smiled when he glared playfully at her. "Though I guess you do have a good point. It could be a lot worse, couldn't it?"

"Yeah," he said. "It can always be a lot worse."

* * *

Orihime came home to a quiet house. She walked inside and set her bag down near the door as she took off her shoes. Ichigo had gone home, giving Orihime the time and space to confront her aunts. There were some things they did as a couple, and some things they did on their own. This was something Orihime had – and wanted – to tackle on her own. Ichigo understood, and allowed her to do this on her own without complaint.

Besides, Orihime was sure her aunts scared him a little.

Nearly giggling at the thought, Orihime walked further inside. "I'm home!"

When she didn't receive an answer, she walked through the kitchen and into the living room. Poking her head inside, she found her aunts sitting on the couch and Rangiku on her feet, arms crossed. Yoruichi and Rangiku were both frowning heavily, while Retsu had turned towards Orihime when she walked into the room.

She couldn't be sure, but it looked like they were about to start arguing, which was something they almost never did. Orihime could count on one hand the number of times her aunts and sister had fought, at least in her memory.

Yes, something _was _wrong. She was sure of it now.

"What's going on?" Orihime asked, walking into the room.

"We're just having a bit of a disagreement," Retsu said in her usual calm voice as Yoruichi and Rangiku finally looked over at Orihime. "I'm sure you've noticed the last few days that something has been on our minds."

She nodded, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat.

Retsu beckoned at Orihime to take a seat. Orihime did so, fidgeting with her hands as she looked back and forth between her aunts and sister, waiting for one of them to start explaining. "Please tell me," she said when Rangiku stared at the floor, her lips tightly shut. "I'd rather know now than later." Her voice shook as she spoke.

"Let me ask you something," Yoruichi said, leaning over to get a good look at her face. "How many times have you and Ichigo had sex?"

Orihime flushed, but resolutely answered, "Zero. So far I've been able to re-energize without having to go that far."

"See?" Yoruichi looked up at Rangiku. "This is why I wanted to talk to her now, before things progressed too far."

Rangiku remained silent, and Retsu continued, "Orihime, you're aware that we are sustained by the energy from our partners during sex, and most of it comes from the sexual energy produced. However, there's a small problem.

Orihime's heart squeezed. "Problem?"

"When we draw our energy, we also take some of our partner's life energy." Retsu reached over and took Orihime's hands in hers. "A little bit each time. If you only sleep with someone once or twice, it will not harm them much. However, if you stay with one person and draw from them continually…"

"You'll kill them," Yoruichi finished, her expression apologetic, and a little sad. "It's why we rarely stay with just one person. Life energy can be replenished, but it takes a long time. Too long," she added. Sighing, she continued, "I'm sure you understand what that means. You can't be with Ichigo anymore."

Orihime glanced away from her family, unable to meet their gazes. She heard Rangiku sigh heavily; her sister hadn't wanted to tell her this, Orihime knew. She hardly wanted to tell her about her own true nature, let alone this aspect of it. Perhaps this was a large part of the reason why Rangiku had hidden it from her for so long.

"But…" She squeezed her aunt's hands as she fought the tears. "I love him. He's – he's been so good and understanding. Isn't there any way to prevent it?" she asked desperately.

"I'm afraid not," Retsu said quietly. "It was the same with your parents. Your mother wanted-"

Orihime shook her head, suddenly getting up from her seat. "I can't hear this. I just-" As her emotions threatened to bubble over, she wanted nothing more than to get out of the room. Orihime hurried out of the living room and ran towards her room, her footsteps thundering up the steps as she tried desperately not to cry.

When Orihime was gone, Rangiku glanced at Yoruichi. "Satisfied?"

"It's not like I took pleasure in that," Yoruichi said in a low voice, "but it was inevitable. She had her normal years. Now it's her time to be what she is, and unfortunately, that comes with consequences."

"Isn't it bad enough that we can't even be human?" Rangiku murmured. She shook her head, not expecting an answer. "I need a minute," she added, striding out of the room. She headed for her room, intending to give herself – and her sister – some much needed alone time.

* * *

Orihime had cried, but she didn't cry as much as she thought she would. Her heart ached, but a larger part of her was scared: scared that she would hurt Ichigo when she, inevitably, broke up with him; scared of what he would say and think; and scared that she had already done something to harm him during one of their bouts.

Laying on her bed, she had the phone in her hand, but she couldn't bring herself to call Ichigo. She didn't want to have to break up with him over the phone, but she knew she wouldn't be able to hide it from him tomorrow, and she really didn't want to break up with him at school. That left no choice but to do it tonight.

Her hand shook as she dialed his number. _I'm sorry, _she thought, repeating it over and over in her head as she waited for Ichigo to pick up.

Her heart skipped a beat when he picked up and said, _"Hello?"_

"I – Ichigo-kun," Orihime said, swallowing to try and control her voice. "Hey. Um…"

"_What's wrong?" _he asked. She could hear the uncertainty in his voice, and the worry.

She inhaled deeply, trying to settle her nerves. "We need to talk."

There was a pause, and then, "_Okay… is it about your family?"_

"It has to do with what's been bothering them." Orihime curled up into a ball on her bed, pressing her forehead against her knees as she continued, "I…"

"_You can tell me," _Ichigo said, trying to be encouraging. _"We'll get through it, no matter what."_

Orihime shook her head. "That's just it. We can't. We're…" She bit back a sob, trying to be strong and not break down. Knowing she wouldn't if she didn't say it now, she blurted out, "We can't be together anymore!"

She heard a choked gasp, and she winced as she waited for him to say something. _I'm sorry, I'm sorry. _

He finally said after a long pause, _"But… isn't this – this has to be way too drastic-"_

"It's not!" A sob escaped Orihime as she continued, "If we stay together, I'll… I'll end up killing you!" Ichigo would understandably be confused, so she immediately began telling him what her aunts told her. When she finished, she waited, not realizing she was holding her breath.

"_But… what will you do? If you don't – if you can't recharge from me, then who? If you can't stay with the same guy then-"_

"I know," she whispered. She had thought of that, but she had already made up her mind, not that she had a choice, really. "But I'd rather ruin my reputation than put you at risk. I won't endanger you, Ichigo-kun. I won't."

"_Orihime-"_

"I can't." Orihime wiped away the tears running down her cheeks. "I'll do whatever it takes. But I will not jeopardize your life. I'm sorry, Ichigo-kun. I'm so sorry."

She hung up before he had a chance to argue, to persuade her otherwise. She let the phone drop to the bed, and let out her grief and disappointment.


	13. Chapter 13

_Star here, with another chapter! I'm super sorry for the late update. I sort of lost my muse over the summer, and then I just got plain busy once school started, but I forced myself to write this because it needed to be done. Hopefully the length of this chapter makes up for the long wait. Enjoy!_

* * *

The days following the phone call were brutal, leaving both teens feeling upset and overwhelmed. Despite their strong friendship that had lasted for years before they became committed to one another, they both avoided seeing each other whenever possible. They sat with other people during lunch, they took different 'routes' during the breaks; they took any measures necessary to not have to talk with each other.

As much as Ichigo wanted to talk to Orihime about the confusing phone call, the way she refused to look at him said it all. She was not to be bothered as she had already made her decision. He could still occasionally see glimpses of sadness over the situation and even some remaining love in her eyes, but that only willed himself to hold himself back even more. The situation was a mess and the few days of space so far had given him time to wrap his head around what was going on.

Orihime could kill him if they were to be together for too long. While things may have been fine and dandy in the beginning when they were just briefly fooling around, the more intense things got, the more serious the outcome would be. It was a terrifying thought to die, but when it boiled down to the basics, Ichigo was more than willing to take the risk.

He couldn't find the patience or desire to talk to anyone on his way out of the school. His mind was riddled with far too much to handle and it started to give him a headache the moment he would _think_ he beginning to understand. As he slung his book bag over his shoulder and exited the front doors of the school, Ichigo lifted his previously hanging head only to discover he probably should have continued to look at the ground in front of him instead.

Orihime was with another classmate, a boy to be specific, at the front gates. His hand was resting on her lower back, almost possessively, while his eyes roved over her curvy body. Orihime looked fairly nonchalant about what was happening, but once she noticed her redheaded friend watching her from afar, that blank look quickly dissipated into shame and regret. She turned to the boy and said something to him. What she said to the boy after discovering Ichigo was unknown, but they left soon after that, leaving Ichigo in the courtyard more confused and hurt than anything.

For now, Ichigo decided to ignore the painful throbbing in his chest, the feeling of hurt and even some betrayal causing his heart to beat erratically. She was the one that wanted it this way, and if that was what she wanted, he would do nothing but listen to her wishes.

* * *

The guilt never rushed so quickly through Orihime before. With this boy next to her, a fellow classmate, she suddenly felt as if she couldn't go through with what she had planned to do. Her initial idea was to offer to hang out with him after school, and when things seemed right, she would do what she needed to do to get energy and recharge herself. This boy would be the start of how she was _supposed_ to do things as a succubus.

However, looking back, Orihime wondered if she would've been able to go through with it anyway, even if she hadn't seen Ichigo. It just seemed too shameful to do it with someone you didn't really love.

"So, where do you want to go?" the boy asked, his tone low and quiet, yet laced with lust. If the school beauty Inoue Orihime asked him out, he wasn't going to say no; he intended on making the best of it.

"... Home," she replied quietly, turning on her heels to return the way she came. With her house the opposite of where they were heading, she'd need to start walking now if she wanted to get there and not alarm her family as to why she seemed somewhat late. However, judging from the look on her face, they'd probably question her anyway; although jokingly, her family had made comments as of late, referring to her as a sad, lovesick puppy.

"Oh, that seems like a great idea," he commented, sneering. "I didn't think you'd want to do that stuff in your room right off the bat, but I'm cool with that too." The thought of getting it on in her room, no less, was incredibly hot to him.

Stopping in her tracks, Orihime furrowed her brows and frowned lightly at him. "Not _you_. Just me." She hadn't intended to sound so rude about it, but something came over her and the words seemed to just spill out of her mouth. She brought her hand to her mouth and covered it, as if it would hold back any more terrible words from coming out.

The boy scoffed at her and glared. "Fine, whatever..." Clearly he was not happy, but he continued on the path they were supposed to go, presumably to his own home. Orihime was left alone on the sidewalk, feeling guilt for what she had just about instigated as well as wasting her classmate's time. Sighing lightly, she realized she was doing nothing but being a burden to people, and as a result, she could only feel terrible for her mistakes.

The walk home seemed to go by rather quickly. Whether it was because she was thinking about Ichigo so much or because she was focusing on how to fix her current succubus situation, she didn't know; she was so caught up in her thoughts that it seemed like the normally 20-minute walk home was only a mere five.

She found herself turning the doorknob to her home, plastering on a small but somewhat weak smile. Her family knew she was still upset, but she still wanted to smile a little to somehow make them believe that she was gradually moving on. The door opened and Orihime stepped in, taking off her shoes and putting her slippers on instead. It seemed unnaturally quiet in the house, but she didn't let herself pay too much attention to it.

"Welcome home, Orihime-chan!" Rangiku suddenly came bounding through the entrance way, grabbing her sister to pull her into a hug. It was a kind thing to do, but even Orihime knew that Rangiku was doing it out of comfort for her sibling.

"Ah, thank you," Orihime replied, forcing her smile to grow a little wider. For a moment, she let herself slip her arms around her sister's midsection and reciprocated the hug.

Unbeknownst to Orihime, Rangiku could sense her sister's sadness anyway. Just from the way she carried herself, she could tell that Orihime was not in the best of moods, and it was painfully obvious that she was still thinking about Ichigo.

"How was school?" Rangiku inquired, trying to ease her mind off of the pain for a moment by inquiring about something else. While she had asked in reference to her studies, Orihime could only remember Ichigo's pained face when she saw him from the school gates.

"It was fine. Just normal," Orihime replied, smiling sheepishly. _Boy, my cheeks hurt..._ She thought offhandedly. She couldn't recall smiling to be so awkward before. "Um, I have a lot of homework to do, so I'll be in my room, alright?" It was true that she had a lot of work (she hadn't been paying too much to her studies lately), but she more or less craved a place where she could be alone and slowly but surely work over her love for Ichigo.

As much as Rangiku wished for Orihime to not be alone when she was going through this hard time, seeing as it would make her more withdrawn than she already was, but she stopped to think back to her own teen years. Practically every girl wanted to be by herself after going through a heartache; she was the same at her age, and Orihime was no different.

"Okay..." Rangiku replied and nodded. She pulled her dear sister close and placed a kiss on the top of her head, out of comfort and familial love. "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me."

Rangiku wordlessly left into the kitchen, leaving Orihime comfortably alone. Inside, she was grateful for the kind act her sister showed. The funny ache in her heart didn't seem to hurt as much knowing that her sibling was there for her and was trying her best to go with Orihime's pace. Her aunts attempted to make similar actions over the past few days, but Orihime was just too lost in her own little world to truly appreciate it.

She couldn't remember walking up the stairs and into her room. She was in such an emotional haze, she didn't even realize that she had dropped her bag onto the floor and collapsed onto her bed. But there was that comfortable feeling again, being on the bed. Orihime sighed and rolled around in her comforter, relishing in that hidden-like feeling she felt burrowing underneath her covers.

_It's like it's my own little cocoon,_ the thought passed in her head. She pulled the comforter up to her nose and she glanced over the room. She was genuinely trying her best not to think about Ichigo, since it proved to be so difficult, but there was just so much that reminded her of him.

At the small table in her room, she remembered all the small, special moments that happened when he came over to do homework together. Orihime recalled the time they had both fallen to the floor and he landed on top of her. That was before they had started dating, and thinking back on it now, Orihime was amazed at how many moments like that they'd had over the years. It was like they were already in sync and thinking and wanting the same things for some time.

Her eyes traveled over to her bookcase, where a stuffed animal was perched upon it. A small, orange bear was the animal, and it was a prize Ichigo had won for her at a festival a few years ago. She had ogled at it, secretly wanting it because it reminded her of him, but she was also just fine with seeing the toy from afar. He seemed to read her mind, though, and he won it without breaking a sweat, and if she remembered correctly, he looked rather pleased to see her so happy.

And even on the bed she was in, was the moment where Ichigo hugged her and told her he would accept her, no matter what she was. Human, succubus, or even a polar bear, he would probably care for her no matter what kind of creature she was.

A blush crawled up her cheeks and the pain in her chest seemed to lighten up upon remembering all the happy times with Ichigo.

Despite the blanket being comfortable and far too safe, Orihime sat up and retrieved her backpack, fishing her cell phone out of the front pocket. A thought passed through her head, at first being incredibly genius. She didn't know why she didn't think of it before!

She'd call him now and ask if they could still be friends, in the least. They could go back to the times where they laughed and smiled together, instead of being sad and alone like they were now. That smile from earlier reappeared again, this time being genuine, but a little more watered down than before.

Before she knew it, she was typing in Ichigo's cell phone number. Her fingers flew over the keys and it was only a moment later when she heard the dial tone in her ear. She found that the smile was growing bigger with every ring that passed.

A soft click sounded into her ear, followed by the familiar voice of Ichigo. "Hello?" he asked, his voice clearly strained. The optimism Orihime had in her heart plummet ted and the smile faded away. Ichigo sounded so tired, so distressed. She couldn't ever recall a time he sounded like that before.

Was she the one to make him sound like that? Had her actions by breaking it off caused the reason for his sad-sounding voice?

"Hello...?" he asked again, upon not hearing a response. Tears quickly swelled in Orihime's eyes and she immediately snapped the phone shut, ending the call. How could she be so selfish by doing that? She was the one that told him they couldn't be together anymore. She had no right to go back and tell him they could try to still be friends.

Ichigo was a good man, but she wouldn't allow herself to continually have him bend himself backwards just to make her happy.

She let the phone fall carelessly out of her hands and she retreated back to that comforter, snuggling herself up too tightly. It was hard to breathe in that cocoon of a blanket, but Orihime didn't want the sounds of her crying to alarm her family.

So for now, she let herself cry until her eyes hurt and she fell asleep, letting herself escape to a temporary dream-land where she was still with Ichigo.

* * *

The unsuspected rain a week later seemed to fit Ichigo's mood perfectly. Normally he was in a grumpy mood, but he was dealing with a whole slew of emotions, and the current downpour suited his feelings exactly. The occasional bolts of lightning and roar of thunder worked well with the feeling of anger stewing in the pit of his stomach.

Of course, the anger wasn't directed at Orihime in any way. He just found that the dramatic rush of feelings was foreign and confusing; being angry instead was merely a way to channel all those feelings into something he was familiar with. (Although there's probably something to be said about being more comfortable with anger than any other emotion.)

And then there was the matter of a recent phone call.

He was completely out of it when he had answered the phone initially, lost in his own plethora of thoughts about Orihime, when his phone rang. He hadn't even bothered to check the caller ID, or at least the phone number. In such a funk, he picked it up and answered it, inquiring about the caller in a tone he later figured sounded too downhearted.

At first, he was rather annoyed that the caller had hung up on him. However, after discovering that it was Orihime that had called him for some unknown reason, his heart started to beat erratically. It was threatening to jump right out of his chest, and it greatly reminded him of how he felt when he first suggested to her that they start dating. That adrenaline rush and wonder what she was going to say... he thought over it endlessly, and it kept him up for most of the nights following it.

A week later, and what he had to show was a clearly pissed off expression, something seemingly normal, with rather large dark circles under his eyes. It was obvious to those who saw him that he was having trouble, but the look on his face deterred people away.

Settling into his desk, Ichigo sighed and carelessly let his book bag drop to the floor. Other students were still streaming into the classroom, all laughing and smiling over their own little things. It seemed to only annoy Ichigo further, seeing as he hadn't been able to experience that happiness for a while, ever since she broke up with him.

Speaking of her, Ichigo noticed Orihime had yet to come into the classroom. He was still half-expecting to see her come in every day with a new 'suitor', considering he was no longer her source of energy and she now needed new men to 'drain'. He felt jealousy bubble up, that she was probably getting intimate with men who didn't even really know her. They didn't know how she liked to put honey and wasabi on her ramen, or how it was of dire importance to get home in time every Friday to watch the new episode of Laugh Hour.

Curling his hand into a tight fist, Ichigo inwardly growled. These feelings were fucking with him and he didn't like it one bit.

Orihime came into the classroom, surprisingly alone. Ichigo glanced at her as she made her way to her seat, feeling those negative feelings from earlier change with one quick look at her. Even when they were apart, she still managed to calm down his rabid emotions.

He had watched her for a while before, earlier in the week, but today was different. Normally she'd made an effort to not look at him as she walked into the classroom, but she turned her head slightly to meet his gaze. Her cheeks immediately flushed and her lips pursed. Ichigo could feel his face heating up as well, all from that single look at her. Not that he would've cared either way, but he was half wondering if that sudden rush of heat was from his still present feelings for her or if it was just an effect, or an aura, of hers that she emanated as a succubus.

Although the blushing was one thing, there was something else that bothered him even more, even after she turned her head again and looked away. As she shuffled to her desk, he was plagued with the concern of how she was looking. Orihime looked absolutely exhausted. Just like him, she had bags under her eyes, indicating she wasn't sleeping well, just like he was.

And then there was the concentration, or lack thereof.

When they looked at each other, he could see how she was struggling. The battle with trying to keep her extra appendages hidden was a difficult one. Orihime was truly trying her best to hide herself, but even as Ichigo took a second look back at her to confirm his suspicions, his heart sank with dread.

It was barely noticeable to anyone else, but Ichigo could see her horns beginning to peek out beneath her auburn hair.

_When the hell did she last recharge?_ Ichigo mentally seethed, worry flooding his system at her using her resources at hand, but if she had more reason for not escorting those men, he couldn't help but wonder if they had something to do with him. (And if those were the reasons, he felt oddly smug.)

He could only curse at himself for wanting to be there, to do everything in his power to help her not because they used to date, but because they had been friends for so much longer than that. It didn't sit right with him to let her have trouble, just because they hadn't talked for a while now.

Orihime didn't stay long, Ichigo noticed. He was watching her from afar, and she had sat down for no more than a minute at her desk when she shuddered heavily and stood right back up, grabbing her bag and leaving just as quickly as she had come. Ichigo had to wonder if she noticed her appendages popping out. It was more than likely the case, he determined.

Still, even as the teacher came into the room and began to start roll call only seconds after Orihime left, his stomach sank again. He felt so wrong for just sitting here when he knew she needed help. Maybe she wouldn't accept his help, but she didn't seem to accept the fact that she needed help in general.

Orihime's name was called, and the teacher nonchalantly marked her as absent. For Ichigo, he couldn't just shrug her off in the same manner.

He pushed himself from his seat, sending the chair sliding back a ways and causing the students to look at him completely startled. "Kurosaki, what's the meaning of this?" the teacher asked, frowning.

Ichigo couldn't bring himself to explain, nor did he want to. He had something more important to deal with, and that was chasing down Orihime.

* * *

Outside, Orihime stood panting and and hunched over. _I-It hurts..._ she thought, biting her bottom lip in agony as her head reeled and everything spun.

For an entire week, she couldn't do it. She couldn't bring herself to be with another man.

Not only was did the thought disgust her to do such vile things with someone she didn't know, but there was the matter of Ichigo. Whenever she tried to approach another classmate about getting together, she could only think about Ichigo and how hurt he probably was. Any desire she was feeling, both physically and mentally, over wanting the energy of a man, was immediately extinguished by the image of Ichigo's pained face from the earlier part of the week.

Perhaps her family noticed something off, but Orihime certainly didn't tell them. For all she knew, they might have just shoved an unwilling man her way and lock her and him in her room until she was done. Still, she wouldn't have gone through with it, if that would've been the case. She determined she'd rather suffer than be with someone else other than Ichigo.

Panting heavily, Orihime shuffled past the shoe lockers and the out the doors, at this point uncaring of how it was raining so hard. If anything, the falling liquid hitting hard against her skin gave her a distraction over her heavy thoughts and failing concentration.

_Whe__re...?_ she wondered, looking for a spot somewhere on the school grounds where she could hide out for a while and let her appendages come out, letting herself take a break from concentrating so much. She could already feel her horns poking through her hair and it was only a matter of time before the other two followed in pursuit.

Orihime spotted a small shed, off in the distance. She recognized it as the storage room for the gym equipment, and she gave it very little thought on making that her hideout place for now. With the heavy rain and all, outside gym was probably going to be canceled for the day, thus she immediately determined that would be the place she would call safe until she would go home.

She hurried through the school yard, trying to rush due to many reasons. She didn't want anyone to see her wings or tail, for one, but if someone were to see her skipping, she would be made to go back inside and certainly all hell would break loose. She already knew she wouldn't be able to concentrate on herself if she was forced to go back.

Thankfully, she made it to the storage room fairly quickly and without being spotted. Orihime's breathing was heavy, due to her both running and trying to keep herself hidden until she was into the small shack. Once inside safely, her fingers seemed to fly to her buttons, undoing them quickly and shedding her shirt once they were unclasped. She even had to sigh in relief when the shirt fell to the floor carelessly and her wings popped out, stretching themselves and causing Orihime to gasp over the dull ache she'd felt in them due to being so contained for so long.

She was amazed at how much better she felt already, even though what was only apparent were her horns and her wings. Orihime more time unzipping her skirt and letting it fall down to the floor, a soft _'slap'_ being heard as the wet fabric hit the solid ground. Her tail snaked out in the same fashion, causing another soft sigh to escape her.

"So much better..." she murmured to herself, letting herself sit down on the bundle of mats piled in the corner. Inwardly, she felt somewhat ashamed for being so indecent when the students and teachers would have no idea as to how she was so naked on what they used for mere daily exercise.

Although she was feeling better already over being able to stretch and release her appendages, there was still the matter of her lack of energy. She was practically ready to fall asleep, if the dull ache present all over wasn't keeping her awake. But she decided to close her eyes for a few moments, just try to regain some energy from resting, at least. She shuddered lightly before getting more comfortable on the pile of mats.

Orihime could feel herself drifting off into a light sleep when something startled her awake.

The sound of the door.

Someone was jiggling the handle of the door, and the slow and relaxed heart rate she was experiencing before was immediately sent into a rapid tattoo. Someone could see her like this and she had no time to get dressed or even concentrate herself to hide her wings and tail!

Tears stung at Orihime's eyes as the door began to swing open, and she could only curl up into a ball in fear. Her wings and tail wrapped around her, as if trying to hide herself even more, and she bit her lip as she anticipated the worst.

"Ori...hime?"

It was a low voice, soft and gentle in nature, edged with a hint of worry. She'd heard that voice before, _so _many times before. She thought her heart would calm itself after discovering who it was, but instead, it decided to drop and send a flash of even greater fear through her system.

"Ichigo-kun..." Orihime whimpered, moving her head up ever so slightly to take a peek at him. Although he was incredibly drenched now, she could feel her cheeks heat up as she raked her eyes over his form. His wet clothes clung to his fit body and his hair fell far over his eyes. His scared, but kind eyes looked upon her and his breathing ragged and hard, indicating he had been running before as well for some reason.

Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of the fear in his eyes, only because she didn't know what she was supposed to take from that. She blinked and the tears pooling from before ran down her cheeks, and she instantly hid her face in her hands.

"Please, don't look at me!" she cried, fearing he was disgusted by her. She sobbed quietly, unaware how Ichigo was already moving towards her, and with quite a bit of urgency at that. It was only a moment later when Ichigo grabbed onto her shoulders and pulled her into his arms, his breathing loud in her ears once there.

"You idiot..." he muttered, not meaning to make her feel worse with his comment. More or less, he was just frustrated still and everything was catching up with him. His split second decision to leave to find her wasn't really accompanied with his feelings from earlier, when he got up to go. So now that she was in front of him, those heavy emotions flooded back to him and he didn't know how to properly vent them.

"E-Eh?" Orihime replied, feeling the tears well up again. She knew he would have never called her that before, but the desperation in his voice was what had her confused, and focusing on, the most.

"... Why didn't you come to me?" Ichigo asked, pulling himself away from the hug slightly to get a good look at her face. He brought his hand up to wipe away wet tendrils of hair sticking to her face. "You needed help, but you couldn't get it from anyone else, could you?" Orihime flushed and she bit her bottom lip, feeling ashamed all over again.

"You know why, Ichigo-kun..." she was quiet in response. "I-I can't do it to you anymore! I can't keep recharging from you!" Her voice gradually grew louder, worry and concern accompanying it as well. Ichigo scowled at her stubbornness and used his thumb to wipe away a falling tear.

"And I told _you,_ I'm jumping into this willingly." Despite the hint of apprehensiveness in his voice, his tone suddenly changed from fully worried to completely serious. "Sure, it's a scary thought, to die, but..." He paused to press a kiss to her forehead. "I really wouldn't want to go any other way." As cheesy as it might be to either of them, dying in her arms seemed to be the best way to pass on, to him.

She began to protest again, quietly but still with her own plans stuck in her head. _Stay away from Ichigo and let him live_, was the idea. However, as Ichigo began to press kisses all over her face, from her cheeks to her head and lastly to her lips, that decision was wavering more and more with each one. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him far tighter than she probably needed to. It was like she wanted to squeeze all the love right out of him.

"I-I won't be mad if you want to leave later, you know..." Orihime pouted, gasping lightly as he trailed his hands to her back and began to caress her wings, a sign to her that he was still completely accepting of what she was. He seemed to even embrace it, actually.

"And _you_ know that I can never leave. Not now, not ever," he muttered in response, his lips finding a spot in her neck, kissing her skin tenderly. "End of discussion."

Orihime shuddered in his arms, feeling like she was overflowing with her love for Ichigo as well as a rush of happiness at his dangerous, but hesitantly welcomed decision. She couldn't deny the excitement and thrill running through her body, knowing he was here to stay. How long that stay would be was unknown, but Orihime was determined to make the best of it.

She could only blush harder when she felt his lips move across her flesh, as he spoke to her, "Now... Let me help you."


End file.
